Portal:Tropical cyclones/Featured article/Tropical Storm Leslie (2000)



Tropical Storm Leslie was the costliest tropical cyclone of the 2000 Atlantic hurricane season. The twelfth named storm of the season, Leslie formed out of a trough of low pressure on October 4 to the east of Florida. Initially a subtropical cyclone, it strengthened and attained enough tropical characteristics to be reclassified as Tropical Storm Leslie on October 5. Leslie reached peak winds of 45 mph (70 km/h) before wind shear weakened it, and on October 7 it transitioned into an extratropical cyclone over the open Atlantic Ocean. It lasted three more days before losing its identity.

Leslie had little impact as a tropical cyclone. The precursor trough of low pressure produced torrential rainfall across Florida, peaking at 17.5 inches (440 mm). The flooding damaged thousands of houses and caused three indirect deaths. Damage in southern Florida totaled $950 million (2000 USD, $1.1 billion 2006 USD), of which around half was from agricultural damage. After the flooding, portions of south Florida were declared a disaster area.

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