Think you survived a Cat 1 hurricane with Nicole? Here's how Palm Beach County got off easy

Nicole made landfall on the east coast of Florida Thursday at 3 a.m. on Hutchinson Island just south of Vero Beach as a 75-mph hurricane. This is only the second time in history a hurricane has hit the Florida Peninsula in November.

But Palm Beach County was mostly spared Nicole's damaging winds and flooding, here's why:

Damaging winds depend on where they are

Nicole, which formed early Monday as a subtropical storm, had a massive wind field that extended 485 miles and even impressed veteran meteorologists. But when it made landfall, its hurricane-force winds extended only 25 miles from its center. Hutchinson Island is 40 miles from Jupiter and 78 miles from Boca Raton. Also, Nicole's winds were mostly to the north side of the storm. That left Palm Beach County on its south side where the wind field wasn't as far-reaching.

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Normally we see tornadoes, but not this time

Palm Beach County had no tornadoes with Nicole. Hurricane Ian, which made landfall near Fort Myers Sept. 28, spawned three tornadoes in Palm Beach County including and EF2 that destroyed multiple units in the Kings Point community west of Delray Beach. Even though Hurricane Ian's center was farther from Palm Beach County than Nicole, the county was in Ian's rowdy right front quadrant, which is a breeding ground for tornadoes.

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It wasn't a slow-moving storm

Nicole was moving at a forward speed of 14 mph when it made landfall. The average speed for a hurricane making landfall at the latitude of Hutchinson Island is between 12.5 and 17 mph, according to NOAA's Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. That means Nicole was within the average range. Slower hurricanes can do more damage. Hurricane Frances in 2004 made landfall on Hutchinson Island moving at just 7 mph.

It's not only the wind speeds, it's the direction of the winds

Nicole created offshore seas of more than 25 feet but early reports Thursday were that there was less beach erosion than expected in Palm Beach County and that the dunes were holding up. Waves were still huge at the beach Thursday so there's a chance it's worse than at first glance. Still, Paul Walker, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather, said despite days of high waves and wind, the winds were coming mostly out of the north and northwest as Nicole approached. East winds tend to do more damage to beaches. As Nicole neared the coast, the winds in Palm Beach County turned offshore — due west or southwest. Walker said west winds can work against the waves and mitigate erosion. Also, when Nicole came ashore at 3 a.m. with its strongest winds, it was just an hour past low tide at the Lake Worth Pier. While coastal street flooding occurred all week with the combination of the higher full moon tides and Nicole-stoked waves, a high tide at the time of landfall could have meant more damage to the beaches.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Hurricane Nicole was a category 1 but Palm Beach County didn't feel it