Hurricane Michael's Surface Wind Field at Landfall

Realtime data feeds from numerous standardized public and proprietary measurement platforms allowed for a sequence of observation-based objective analyses of the surface wind field of Hurricane Michael, capturing the intensification up through landfall. Due to failures of many stationary platforms and even a hardened mobile wind tower, aircraft reconnaissance SFMR data became critical for establishing the details of Michaels peak wind footprint. Recent research on the physics of the air-sea interface at extreme winds provides insight into the interpretation of SFMR measurements at landfall and may add more context for establishing the peak intensity of Michael at landfall.