The 2015 season

Tropical Storm Erika (2015)

Tropical Storm Erika peaked at 45 kt in the North Atlantic between August 24, 2015 and August 28, 2015, with a lowest pressure of 1001 mb. It killed 25 people, as Wikidata records it.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Erika, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2015 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
August 24, 2015 to August 28, 2015
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 45 kt (52 mph)
Lowest pressure
1001 mb (29.56 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 45 km (28 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
2.7
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
140 nmi (259 km, 161 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
30 nmi (56 km, 35 mi)
Overall size
240 nmi (444 km, 276 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Peak gust in the best track
55 kt (63 mph)
Fastest the center moved
18 kt (21 mph)
Identifier
AL052015

Radar at TJUA as it neared land, Aug 28, 06:00 UTC

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

NOAA Storm Events

0 deaths (0 direct, 0 indirect)$2,000

What National Weather Service offices recorded county by county in 3 states and marine areas, in the United States only. Property and crop damage as each office estimated it, which is not a national loss total.

Wikidata

25 deathsno damage figure

A community-maintained total, usually direct and indirect deaths together and damage worldwide. Joined to this storm by its IBTrACS serial, not by name.

In the United States

NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.

Deaths
0 (0 direct, 0 indirect)
Injuries
0
Property damage
$2,000
Crop damage
none recorded
Events recorded
10 in 3 reports from 3 states and marine areas

State by state

State or marine areaDeathsInjuriesDamageEvents
Puerto Rico00$2,0004
Atlantic South005
Florida001

What was recorded

5 marine thunderstorm wind, 4 tropical storm, 1 flood.

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 2,662 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 9.00 inches (229 mm).

StationTotalPosition
SWEETWATER 14 NW9.00 in (229 mm)25.88N 80.57W
Hartsville 0.2 NNW8.50 in (216 mm)34.37N 80.08W
Gainesville 2.1 NW8.40 in (213 mm)29.69N 82.36W
NWS Charleston SC8.19 in (208 mm)32.89N 80.03W
Canadys 0.4 NW7.70 in (196 mm)33.06N 80.63W
Huger 5.5 SE7.17 in (182 mm)33.03N 79.76W
Ridgeland 5.8 ESE7.04 in (179 mm)32.45N 80.89W
Miami Lakes 0.3 NNW6.97 in (177 mm)25.91N 80.32W
Naples 8.7 SE6.93 in (176 mm)26.05N 81.70W
Union Park 2.9 SSE6.75 in (171 mm)28.52N 81.23W
Charleston 6.4 NW6.75 in (171 mm)32.84N 80.08W
Tarpon Springs 5.6 E6.72 in (171 mm)28.14N 82.66W

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

Wind reports

The strongest winds National Weather Service offices recorded with this storm. An estimated figure is a forecaster’s judgment from the damage, not an instrument reading.

WindHowWhereStateTime (UTC)
37 kt (43 mph)Measured8.66 SSW of KEY BISCAYNEAtlantic SouthAug 30, 17:55
36 kt (41 mph)Measured3.32 SE of JUPITER INLETAtlantic SouthAug 30, 16:00

What forecast offices wrote

From the Storm Events narratives, unedited.

PREMA reported 36 houses with roof damages across the western interior and southern slopes municipalities. Tress downed were reported at PR-123 and PR-135 in Adjuntas and at PR-605 in Utuado. Also, power lines downed in Utuado.

Western Interior, Puerto Rico · Tropical Storm · Aug 28, 02:00 UTC

Trees were reported downed at PR-155 and PR-778 in Comer��o, at Barrio Rabanal in Almirante sector in Cidra; and trees and power lines downed in Fabian Morales sector in Aguas Buenas.

Eastern Interior, Puerto Rico · Tropical Storm · Aug 28, 02:00 UTC

Off-duty NWS employee reported several impassable streets due to flooding in the Wynwood area of Miami from remnant low pressure of Tropical Storm Erika.

Miami-Dade, Florida · Flood · Aug 30, 07:43 UTC

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 24, 18:0014.3N 45.1W40 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 00:0014.4N 46.9W40 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 06:0014.7N 48.6W40 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 12:0015.0N 50.2W40 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 18:0015.3N 51.9W35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 00:0015.7N 53.6W35 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 06:0015.9N 55.2W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 12:0016.2N 56.8W40 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 18:0016.4N 58.2W40 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 00:0016.6N 59.5W40 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 06:0016.5N 60.8W45 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 12:0016.5N 62.2W45 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 18:0016.6N 63.6W45 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 00:0017.2N 65.1W45 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 06:0017.5N 66.8W45 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 12:0017.6N 68.6W45 kt1008 mbTropical storm

Other North Atlantic storms of 2015

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.