Maximum substained winds in Hurricane Irene as measured by the Miami WSR-88D

On 15 October, 1999, Hurricane Irene made landfall near Cape Sable, Florida as a category 1 hurricane, and traversed the Florida peninsula, exiting near Ft. Pierce, Florida. The center of the hurricane passed within about 25 n mi of the Miami WSR-88D. Doppler velocity data recorded by the WSR-88D near the time of closest approach have been examined to determine what the maximum winds near the surface might have been. We find that the velocity data was not de-aliased correctly in real-time, apparently due to contamination caused by anomalous propagation. The data has been de-aliased in post-processing, resulting in an improved estimate of the maximum winds. De-aliased velocities are verified against airborne Doppler data collected by the NOAA P-3, and then used in a Velocity Azimuth Display (VAD) algorithm to obtain a velocity profile.