Mike Theiss

#WindyPalmsProject results: Wind sensor deployment height 15 feet near Holly Beach, Louisiana. MAX wind gust of 154 mph at 12:33. Lowest barometric pressure of 945mb at 12:36am. Watch the intense deployment during #HurricaneLaura on the new @NatGeoChannel TV series #Category6

@KeysBeast1 @NWSKeyWest Thanks for the reply. It appears the record is 34 degrees set on Jan. 10th, 2010 per NWS. Seeing flurries in Key Largo would be epic !

@MikeTheiss @NWSKeyWest in 89 was the coldest i remember i remember it was around xmas and everything had a thick layer of frost and me and mom swear there was flurries coming down. google says that was low 40's just checked google its saying in 81 it was 35 in key largo

Is 37 degrees a record cold temperature for Key Largo ? @NWSKeyWest

@NWSKeyWest I do remember that day in 2010. Thanks for the reply 😎

@MikeTheiss Sorry for the delay. Looking at the temperature records from John Pennekamp State Park, 37 is not an all time record. That would be 34 degrees on Jan 10, 2010. However, that site dates back to 2004, so it's not as large of a data set. Today did tie for the fourth lowest temp.

@ExtremeStorms Silver on 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Whoa . . . Silver & Gold prices, crazy.

@MichaelMarz1 Incredible photo of storm chasers in action 💪🏼

definitely a top 5 moment for me in 2025: seeing a group of storm chasers experiencing the greatest show on earth on the side of a dirt road in western Oklahoma - 5/18/2025 near Arnett

@tbrite89 @SWFLWX @iCyclone 20 second meso blast starts in the video around the 3:05 mark

I wouldn’t rule out the video I shot in Charlotte Harbor during Hurricane Charley from the top 5 list. I think at the time (2004) it was a contender for the highest wind caught on video in a tropical cyclone but has definitely been surpassed over the years with these recent daytime Cat-5’s. Even though Charley was officially a Cat 4 at landfall, it was in the strengthening phase during landfall and an embedded meso inside the tiny eyewall rotated right over my location. The wind was ripping unobstructed right off the water shredding the gas station awning. I would put my life on the fact this 15-20 second wind gust reached Cat-5 strength. You have to find the correct 20 seconds in the video because all the other shots are definitely Cat 4 wind gusts but this one meso gust was something out of this world. The quick wind blast starts around the 3:05 mark just as I clean the lens and point the camera out my truck window. I missed the beginning of the blast as I was wiping the lens and you can hear in the audio the pitch of the wind increases and then I wipe the lens and catch just the end of the meso blast. You can research the radar at landfall and see the red round meso embedded in the eyewall as it rotates over me. I believe inside this meso is the only place the Cat-5 wind existed in Charley but I was there to capture it. This video should be considered on the list. m.youtube.com/watch?v=unV5Kc…

In anticipation of the forthcoming premiere of @Icyclone ‘s video documentation of #hurricane Melissa’s historic and cataclysmic landfall on western #Jamaica, I’ve been diligently working to compile an exclusive listing of all videos containing a peak wind gust of 200 mph or greater (with applicable links). Based on a very meticulous analysis of each potential storm/video, I’ve come to the conclusion that the aforementioned video of #Melissa should (will likely) contain the highest 3 second wind gust ever captured on video. That said, it’s important to note that although I relied solely on the objective meteorological data to compile the list, there’s still an inherent degree of subjectivity involved in such an exercise. Even so, I estimate that all 10 of those distinct videos (consisting of 5 separate category five strength tempests) possess a highest wind gust in the 201-210 mph range. As a result, it’s completely understandable why reasonable people might disagree as to which video *appears* to be the de-facto #1; not that it matters that much or there’s too much difference, anyway. Another thing they each have in common is the definitive “complete whiteout” conditions at their respective peaks. I hope to complete this task, and share these historic videos, by no later than tomorrow evening. In the meantime, can you guess which five Cat 5 monsters I might be referring to?

@tbrite89 Aerial image showing gas station awning and wind direction in Charlotte Harbor. The gas station sat up on a hill so was fully exposed to wind.

I wouldn’t rule out the video I shot in Charlotte Harbor during Hurricane Charley from the top 5 list. I think at the time (2004) it was a contender for the highest wind caught on video in a tropical cyclone but has definitely been surpassed over the years with these recent daytime Cat-5’s. Even though Charley was officially a Cat 4 at landfall, it was in the strengthening phase during landfall and an embedded meso inside the tiny eyewall rotated right over my location. The wind was ripping unobstructed right off the water shredding the gas station awning. I would put my life on the fact this 15-20 second wind gust reached Cat-5 strength. You have to find the correct 20 seconds in the video because all the other shots are definitely Cat 4 wind gusts but this one meso gust was something out of this world. The quick wind blast starts around the 3:05 mark just as I clean the lens and point the camera out my truck window. I missed the beginning of the blast as I was wiping the lens and you can hear in the audio the pitch of the wind increases and then I wipe the lens and catch just the end of the meso blast. You can research the radar at landfall and see the red round meso embedded in the eyewall as it rotates over me. I believe inside this meso is the only place the Cat-5 wind existed in Charley but I was there to capture it. This video should be considered in the list. m.youtube.com/watch?v=unV5Kc…

@tbrite89 Aerial image showing gas station awning and wind direction in Charlotte Harbor. The gas station was up on a slight hill and fully exposed to wind.

@tbrite89 I wish I had better radar imagery from 2004 to share, Tony you might be able to find something more detailed. The meso rotated over the water of Charlotte Harbor before hitting land. It was an unobstructed wind gust.

Aerial view showing the gas station awning and wind direction, you can see the wind comes unobstructed right off the water. If there is a list for top wind gusts caught on video, this Charley video should be considered. It’s definitely not the highest anymore but should still make the list. It looks stronger than some of the other videos you posted on the list.

This has to be the most incredible video ever shot from a Hurricane Hunters flight inside the eye of a Category 5 #Hurricane. Check out this thread of videos from multiple passes inside the eye documenting the “stadium effect” of Hurricane Melissa.

@AaronRigsbyOSC @JordanHallWX @Sierra_Lindsey3 Happy Birthday @JordanHallWX

Since I didn’t go to Jamaica I decided to fly into OKC and celebrate one of my best friends @JordanHallWX birthday and his cake is absolutely INSANE! Reliving Spaulding in art form! @Sierra_Lindsey3

@gabecox Agree 100%

This is incredible footage! Holy wow!!! Hands down the best hurricane eye footage I’ve ever seen 🤯

@SibleyDerek What used to be “Tank for Tua” is now “Tank with Tua” geez….

Dolphins really gonna get blown out by the browns holy moly.

@gabecox @ReedTimmerUSA Dude !! That was your first one ? I’m happy to be a part of it, See you in the next eyewall 🌀

My first hurricane! @ReedTimmerUSA and @MikeTheiss were amazing and let me tag along in a tackle shop they secured. Definitely eased my first-time jitters. Video: youtu.be/P12YyUOmTDw

@AaronRigsbyOSC @MesoMax919 Congrats, well deserved 💪🏼💪🏼 @AaronRigsbyOSC @MesoMax919

Pretty surreal making this post. I grew up watching Storm Chasers on Discovery Channel. Fast forward 15 years and I'm on Discovery Channel talking about Storm Chasing with one of my best friends @MesoMax919 who I've had most of my craziest weather experiences with

@DylansSports1 Yes, very well !

Does anyone remember #HurricaneAndrew in 1992?

Dylan, we spoke to an engineer of the building we rode it out in before Katrina hit. The previous building was destroyed in Hurricane Camille. When they rebuilt it they brought in lots of land fill and created a big hill that the new building sits on. In fact, it’s the highest elevation on the coast in the area. Also, they used break away walls on the first floor so water could flow through the building and not collapse. I was expecting Camille type surge at worst. Needless to say the surge was way more than Camille. Answer is No, I did not expect it to get to 28 feet at our location. I learned what it means to always “Expect the unexpected” when chasing. Thankfully it had break away walls or we would have been in some serious trouble.

@MikeTheiss @jimreedphoto Did you and Jim ever think the surge could get so high in Gulfport?

Hurricane #Katrina had the single biggest impact on my life still to this day. I learned a lot about Hurricane survival and gained a massive sense of respect and caution for Mother Nature. @jimreedphoto and myself bunkered down in a 5 story building right on the beachfront and documented Katrina’s ferocious 28 foot storm surge rip through our shelter in Gulfport, Mississippi. If you are not one of the 9.3 million people that have already watched our complete time-coded documentation on YouTube, I recommended you do. Remember, history repeats itself and one day there will be another Katrina. youtube.com/watch?v=-Kou0H…