1985
So this season was pretty interesting and active. Probably the best season of the 1980s. Four storms significantly impacted the US, Elena, Gloria, Juan, and Kate.
Elena - is a lovely name, but this storm is remembered for its erratic track. It's pretty telling that the max rainfall, on Florida's Big Bend, occurred in an area nowhere close to the storm's landfall point. The storm caused a bunch of damage to Florida's oyster crop. It managed to cause a negative storm surge when it made landfall, probably due to the angle and winds.
Gloria - an important Northeast system, but one that doesn't get respect when compared with the 1938 storm, the 1950s storms, Donna, and even Bob in 1991. Why? For one, it didn't have much of a surge, and it caused surprisingly little rain in New England - although it dumped quite a bit through the Mid Atlantic. And, it was probably hyped up as being the second coming of the 1938 hurricane. It wasn't. Still, it caused a fair amount of damage, and its name was retired.
Juan - was costlier than Elena and Gloria despite being weaker than both. Why? Because it impersonated a pretzel off Louisiana's coast. When a storm does that, it will inevitably cause heavy rains - which in Juan's case covered a large area - a large, crop-productive area. The name was not retired, strangely. It probably should have been retired. No matter - another Juan, in 2003, was damaging enough for the name to be retired.
Kate - Became a major hurricane on November 20, the latest date on record. Made landfall as a Cat-2 in the Florida panhandle, which was effected badly by Elena earlier. However, Kate was not tremendously damaging. Since it was so late, it set several other records: strongest US November landfall, westernmost November landfall, northernmost November landfall, latest US hurricane landfall.
1986
So here's the thing about the boring seasons. I feel compelled to write something about the most interesting storm in every season. Some seasons, like 1985 above, have some very interesting storms indeed. And I left a couple out! No storms in 1986 come close to the 1985 storms. So what was the most interesting storm in 1986? Probably Charley, which managed to affect two continents: North America (NC coast) and Europe (Great Britain, Ireland). There wasn't much damage in the US, except for a bit of localized flooding on the coast. In Ireland there was pretty extensive flooding and it was unusually windy. I'd say Charley was worse in Ireland than in North Carolina.
1987
There have been a few notable storms named Emily, and the first was in this year. The storm badly affected some of the Lesser Antilles, the Dominican Republic (but not Haiti, oddly) and Bermuda. I guess I don't mention storms that badly affect Bermuda too often, since it's so small and far away from everywhere else. But Bermuda's seen some pretty bad storms, and Emily was apparently one of the worst for the island. Arlene has a splendid track.
1988
Two notable storms, and they were very serious storms indeed: Gilbert and Joan.
Gilbert is mostly remembered as the second strongest (when I was your age, strongest) Atlantic hurricane, by which I mean it had the second lowest central pressure, 888 millibars. Gilbert fucked up Jamaica pretty good. When it hit the Yucatan, it defoliated the jungle where it hit - and it hit as a Cat-5. It then caused major flooding in NE Mexico. The remnants later caused heavy rain in Western Texas and Oklahoma. Gilbert was my favorite hurricane for a while because of its strength. A picture of it was my computer wallpaper back in intermediate and high school.
Joan is remembered as that other strong hurricane that wasn't Gilbert. It's also remembered for a far south track and stubborn westward movement: in October hurricanes generally move north or northeast. The storm fucked up Nicaragua pretty good, helping contribute to an ongoing recession there. Central America is narrowing there, and Joan was still a tropical storm when it reached the Pacific, where it was renamed Miriam.
1989
One storm: Hugo, one of the all time great US storms. It was the costliest storm ever for three years. So where did it fuck up? St. Croix met Hugo's eye and, well, 90% of buildings were damaged or destroyed and the infrastructure was wiped out. Guadeloupe - 100% of the banana crop was wiped out. Montserrat - 90% of buildings were destroyed. (So sez Wiki - not sure if I trust that.) The storm also heavily damaged Puerto Rico. Anyway, after that, it zoomed to Charleston, SC, making landfall as a Cat-4. The storm surge reached 20 feet. It was bad. Not just because Hugo was so intense - it was also so large.
Three storms hit Texas - the Houston area - in 1989. TS Allison is mostly noteworthy for its name. It was a less severe version of the 2001 edition. Hurricane (Cat-1) Chantal - didn't do much damage. Hurricane (Cat-1) Jerry - didn't do much damage. There have been only four hurricanes to hit the upper Texas coast in October in the past 150 years. This is why I consider the end of Texas's hurricane season to be October 1. Allison was the most damaging of the three storms, since it flooded a wide area, East Texas and most of Louisiana.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
1980-1984
1980
The 1980s were pretty shittacular for hurricanes. 1980 was one of the more active seasons of the decade, but most storms didn't effect land and weren't very strong anyway. The season did have one important storm, Allen, and Allen's pretty interesting indeed. The storm is today mostly known for its extreme strength: the 5th most intense Atlantic hurricane, it reached Cat-5 status three times, it spent more time as a Cat-5 than any other Atlantic hurricane, its top windspeed was 190 mph, tied with Camille for the record. The storm is also known for its strange avoidance of land areas. It passed through the Caribbean and the Gulf, but its first and only landfall occurred in South Texas. Consequently, on its path it didn't actually do that much damage, except in Haiti, where a thunderstorm does damage. In Texas it passed over sparsely populated regions, dumping the usual obscene amounts of rain: 20 inches in Kingsville was the highest total recorded from the storm. The rain is important: the summer of 1980 was one of the most ferocious summers for Texas, although some recent summers (2009) have probably been worse. Hurricane Allen's rain eased the major drought. Anyway, Allen was retired.
1981
This season was quite boring, so I'll talk about the surreality of seeing infamous storm names on boring storms: Katrina was the deadliest storm in 1981, killing two in Cuba. Dennis was the costliest, doing most of its damage in South Florida. The names Emily and Floyd were used for the first time this season, although they didn't do much damage. Things would be different later.
1982
Forget it. There wasn't shit in this season. Most notable storm: Alberto, an early June hurricane which caused massive flooding in Cuba and a bit in South Florida. Alberto also dissipated in the Gulf without making landfall, which is pretty unusual.
1983
Only four storms, but one was Alicia. When I was growing up, I knew that in the named storm era, there were two storms that affected Houston particularly badly, Carla and Alicia. (To that dyad we can now add Ike.) My parents married in 1981 and they lived in Houston at the time, but were on vacation when the storm hit. It took off most of the shingles of the house they lived in though. So that's how I was aware of Alicia as a kid.
Alicia was a short-lived storm, unlike Carla (which formed in the Caribbean) or Ike (which formed far out in the Atlantic). So I'm guessing the hurricane was a bit of a surprise. Wiki sez only 10% of Galvestonians evacuated for the storm, as compared to 60% in Ike and probably more in Rita. Why only 10%? The mayor did not order a mandatory evacuation and by the time residents got concerned, the causeway was flooded. No way off. Anyway, yeah, the storm was damaging. In Houston, I'd say it was mostly a wind event: there was apparently gravel on the tops of skyscrapers (wtf?) so the wind blew it into the buildings, shattering the windows. (Winds in a hurricane are higher up at the tops of skyscrapers than at the surface.) There was presumably flooding, but Ike and Allison were rainier. The storm was Texas's first billion dollar storm. Alicia was retired. It was replaced by Allison.
1984
I don't find this season particularly congenial - there was an adequate number of storms, but they weren't particularly important. I guess Diana is the most noteworthy, but more for what it didn't do. It struck NC as a Cat-2, not a Cat-4 like it came *so* close to doing. Failstorm. It kinda reminds me of Lili in 2002 for that reason - another failstorm. Anyway, yeah, heavy rains on the NC coast. Speaking of Lili, its 1984 incarnation was a December hurricane. It didn't do anything notable, but December hurricanes are definitely rare.
The 1980s were pretty shittacular for hurricanes. 1980 was one of the more active seasons of the decade, but most storms didn't effect land and weren't very strong anyway. The season did have one important storm, Allen, and Allen's pretty interesting indeed. The storm is today mostly known for its extreme strength: the 5th most intense Atlantic hurricane, it reached Cat-5 status three times, it spent more time as a Cat-5 than any other Atlantic hurricane, its top windspeed was 190 mph, tied with Camille for the record. The storm is also known for its strange avoidance of land areas. It passed through the Caribbean and the Gulf, but its first and only landfall occurred in South Texas. Consequently, on its path it didn't actually do that much damage, except in Haiti, where a thunderstorm does damage. In Texas it passed over sparsely populated regions, dumping the usual obscene amounts of rain: 20 inches in Kingsville was the highest total recorded from the storm. The rain is important: the summer of 1980 was one of the most ferocious summers for Texas, although some recent summers (2009) have probably been worse. Hurricane Allen's rain eased the major drought. Anyway, Allen was retired.
1981
This season was quite boring, so I'll talk about the surreality of seeing infamous storm names on boring storms: Katrina was the deadliest storm in 1981, killing two in Cuba. Dennis was the costliest, doing most of its damage in South Florida. The names Emily and Floyd were used for the first time this season, although they didn't do much damage. Things would be different later.
1982
Forget it. There wasn't shit in this season. Most notable storm: Alberto, an early June hurricane which caused massive flooding in Cuba and a bit in South Florida. Alberto also dissipated in the Gulf without making landfall, which is pretty unusual.
1983
Only four storms, but one was Alicia. When I was growing up, I knew that in the named storm era, there were two storms that affected Houston particularly badly, Carla and Alicia. (To that dyad we can now add Ike.) My parents married in 1981 and they lived in Houston at the time, but were on vacation when the storm hit. It took off most of the shingles of the house they lived in though. So that's how I was aware of Alicia as a kid.
Alicia was a short-lived storm, unlike Carla (which formed in the Caribbean) or Ike (which formed far out in the Atlantic). So I'm guessing the hurricane was a bit of a surprise. Wiki sez only 10% of Galvestonians evacuated for the storm, as compared to 60% in Ike and probably more in Rita. Why only 10%? The mayor did not order a mandatory evacuation and by the time residents got concerned, the causeway was flooded. No way off. Anyway, yeah, the storm was damaging. In Houston, I'd say it was mostly a wind event: there was apparently gravel on the tops of skyscrapers (wtf?) so the wind blew it into the buildings, shattering the windows. (Winds in a hurricane are higher up at the tops of skyscrapers than at the surface.) There was presumably flooding, but Ike and Allison were rainier. The storm was Texas's first billion dollar storm. Alicia was retired. It was replaced by Allison.
1984
I don't find this season particularly congenial - there was an adequate number of storms, but they weren't particularly important. I guess Diana is the most noteworthy, but more for what it didn't do. It struck NC as a Cat-2, not a Cat-4 like it came *so* close to doing. Failstorm. It kinda reminds me of Lili in 2002 for that reason - another failstorm. Anyway, yeah, heavy rains on the NC coast. Speaking of Lili, its 1984 incarnation was a December hurricane. It didn't do anything notable, but December hurricanes are definitely rare.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
1975-1979
1975
One storm of note: Eloise. The storm caused heavy rainfall - up to 30 inches - on Puerto Rico. The storm did most of its damage around Pensacola. The storm did particular damage to buildings, undermining foundations and causing heavier than expected damage around the point of landfall. The storm later caused flooding in the mid-Atlantic. Eloise isn't too remembered today - more recent hurricanes were even worse, Dennis and particularly Ivan.
1976
One storm of note: Belle. This storm actually was less damaging than expected, but still interesting since it hit so close to NYC. The storm surge was pretty light, and the rainfall was also not too bad - nowhere near as bad as Eloise last year for instance.
1977
One storm of note: Anita, a rare southwest moving hurricane. And a good thing too: if it had moved northwest it would have struck Texas. The storm caused much damage where it hit - but it hit in a sparsely populated area. Anita is remembered today as the only good storm of the season, in a year which curiously also featured an inactive East Pacific season. (Generally one is active while the other is inactive and vice versa.)
1978
Two storms of note: Amelia and Greta. Amelia was one of those small and boring tropical storms that makes landfall on Texas and causes a shitload of rainfall. Indeed, Amelia set the US record for rainfall from a single tropical system: 48 inches in Medina, Texas. The storm caused 26 inches of rain in 12 hours (!!!!) at Abilene. Greta was a strong hurricane that bounced off the Honduran coast and then made landfall in Belize. Greta was a bad storm, but is remembered in Honduras as the storm that wasn't nearly as bad as Fifi. Greta's remnants moved to the East Pacific and became Hurricane Olivia over there.
1979
This was the year in which male names started alternating with female names: Ana, Bob, Claudette, David. Three notable storms: Claudette, David, and Frederic. Claudette is mostly known for setting the 24 hour rainfall record in the US: 42 inches in Alvin, Texas. David was probably the worst storm of the season. It left 75% of people in Dominica homeless and destroyed the crops there. The storm was a flood event in Puerto Rico, destroying many crops. It killed 2000 people in the Dominican Republic when it made landfall as a Cat-5, causing extreme amounts of rain. Interestingly, it didn't cause much damage in Haiti. The storm caused light and widespread damage in the US, including power outages in NYC. Frederic intensified the damage caused by David in the Caribbean, but it is mostly remembered for its effects in Alabama, where it destroyed the coast. Apparently, there was a lot of development around the Mobile area and Gulf Shores, etc. after the destruction of the storm. Frederic was the last severe hurricane to hit the area until Ivan.
One storm of note: Eloise. The storm caused heavy rainfall - up to 30 inches - on Puerto Rico. The storm did most of its damage around Pensacola. The storm did particular damage to buildings, undermining foundations and causing heavier than expected damage around the point of landfall. The storm later caused flooding in the mid-Atlantic. Eloise isn't too remembered today - more recent hurricanes were even worse, Dennis and particularly Ivan.
1976
One storm of note: Belle. This storm actually was less damaging than expected, but still interesting since it hit so close to NYC. The storm surge was pretty light, and the rainfall was also not too bad - nowhere near as bad as Eloise last year for instance.
1977
One storm of note: Anita, a rare southwest moving hurricane. And a good thing too: if it had moved northwest it would have struck Texas. The storm caused much damage where it hit - but it hit in a sparsely populated area. Anita is remembered today as the only good storm of the season, in a year which curiously also featured an inactive East Pacific season. (Generally one is active while the other is inactive and vice versa.)
1978
Two storms of note: Amelia and Greta. Amelia was one of those small and boring tropical storms that makes landfall on Texas and causes a shitload of rainfall. Indeed, Amelia set the US record for rainfall from a single tropical system: 48 inches in Medina, Texas. The storm caused 26 inches of rain in 12 hours (!!!!) at Abilene. Greta was a strong hurricane that bounced off the Honduran coast and then made landfall in Belize. Greta was a bad storm, but is remembered in Honduras as the storm that wasn't nearly as bad as Fifi. Greta's remnants moved to the East Pacific and became Hurricane Olivia over there.
1979
This was the year in which male names started alternating with female names: Ana, Bob, Claudette, David. Three notable storms: Claudette, David, and Frederic. Claudette is mostly known for setting the 24 hour rainfall record in the US: 42 inches in Alvin, Texas. David was probably the worst storm of the season. It left 75% of people in Dominica homeless and destroyed the crops there. The storm was a flood event in Puerto Rico, destroying many crops. It killed 2000 people in the Dominican Republic when it made landfall as a Cat-5, causing extreme amounts of rain. Interestingly, it didn't cause much damage in Haiti. The storm caused light and widespread damage in the US, including power outages in NYC. Frederic intensified the damage caused by David in the Caribbean, but it is mostly remembered for its effects in Alabama, where it destroyed the coast. Apparently, there was a lot of development around the Mobile area and Gulf Shores, etc. after the destruction of the storm. Frederic was the last severe hurricane to hit the area until Ivan.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
1970-1974
1970
The Atlantic was rather quieter in the 1970s than in the 1960s. One notable storm: Celia, which struck Corpus Christi dead on. Localized areas of intense winds caused much of the damage in the city. The storm was not a major flooding event, but still one of the worst storms since 1950 to hit Texas. (Not worse than Carla though. Carla stands alone.) Celia is definitely remembered today: it was intensifying as it made landfall, the strongest winds were on the left side of the storm (usually on the right), the strongest winds actually passed over a city, it weakened slowly and was a TS far inland.
1971
Two notable storms: Edith and Ginger. Edith was particularly damaging to Nicaragua and Honduras. The storm later damaged crops in SW Louisiana and spawned several tornadoes there. Ginger is mostly known for being the second longest lasting (27 days) Atlantic hurricane. The storm did cause heavy rainfall in eastern North Carolina.
1972
One notable storm: Agnes. This was probably Pennsylvania's worst hurricane ever - it was particularly damaging to more inland towns like Harrisburg and Wilkes-Barre and even Pittsburgh. There was so much water dumped into Pennsylvania's rivers that the Chesapeake seafood industry suffered losses because the water was too fresh (as opposed to brackish). Agnes was also the costliest hurricane ever at that point.
1973
Forget it. Delia did cause heavy rainfall in the Houston area, but it was no Allison.
1974
Two notable storms: Carmen and Fifi. Carmen was unusually fond of moving in cardinal directions. It struck a little populated area of the Yucatan - most damage was to crops. The storm later threatened to hit New Orleans, but turned and sunk Forrest Gump's shrimp boat or something; I've never watched the movie. Amusingly, the worst rainfall was in Alabama. You know what's not so amusing? Fifi, mostly known for being the fourth deadliest Atlantic hurricane. 8,000-10,000 died. The storm fucked up Honduras pretty good, mostly because of excessive and long lasting rain. The storm was bad enough to effect its economy. Fifi's remnants crossed over to the Pacific where they were known as Hurricane Orlene; the storm later made landfall on Mexico's west coast somewhere.
The Atlantic was rather quieter in the 1970s than in the 1960s. One notable storm: Celia, which struck Corpus Christi dead on. Localized areas of intense winds caused much of the damage in the city. The storm was not a major flooding event, but still one of the worst storms since 1950 to hit Texas. (Not worse than Carla though. Carla stands alone.) Celia is definitely remembered today: it was intensifying as it made landfall, the strongest winds were on the left side of the storm (usually on the right), the strongest winds actually passed over a city, it weakened slowly and was a TS far inland.
1971
Two notable storms: Edith and Ginger. Edith was particularly damaging to Nicaragua and Honduras. The storm later damaged crops in SW Louisiana and spawned several tornadoes there. Ginger is mostly known for being the second longest lasting (27 days) Atlantic hurricane. The storm did cause heavy rainfall in eastern North Carolina.
1972
One notable storm: Agnes. This was probably Pennsylvania's worst hurricane ever - it was particularly damaging to more inland towns like Harrisburg and Wilkes-Barre and even Pittsburgh. There was so much water dumped into Pennsylvania's rivers that the Chesapeake seafood industry suffered losses because the water was too fresh (as opposed to brackish). Agnes was also the costliest hurricane ever at that point.
1973
Forget it. Delia did cause heavy rainfall in the Houston area, but it was no Allison.
1974
Two notable storms: Carmen and Fifi. Carmen was unusually fond of moving in cardinal directions. It struck a little populated area of the Yucatan - most damage was to crops. The storm later threatened to hit New Orleans, but turned and sunk Forrest Gump's shrimp boat or something; I've never watched the movie. Amusingly, the worst rainfall was in Alabama. You know what's not so amusing? Fifi, mostly known for being the fourth deadliest Atlantic hurricane. 8,000-10,000 died. The storm fucked up Honduras pretty good, mostly because of excessive and long lasting rain. The storm was bad enough to effect its economy. Fifi's remnants crossed over to the Pacific where they were known as Hurricane Orlene; the storm later made landfall on Mexico's west coast somewhere.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
1965-1969
1965
Before Katrina, Betsy was the storm of record for New Orleans. Betsy is known for several things: its irregular track, first of all. It struck the Bahamas and south Florida (Miami was grazed by it). It was also the first hurricane to cause over a billion dollars in damage (not adjusted for inflation). The water it carried breached the levees. So, as a result, new levees were constructed - ones designed to resist storms like Betsy (ie, fast moving storms). But Katrina was much bigger and much slower than Betsy was.
1966
Two storms of note: Faith and Inez. Faith is notable mostly for its records: the storm with the longest track, the largest hurricane, the most northerly hurricane. (All these records are just for the Atlantic.) Inez is partly notable for its irregular track, but mostly notable for hitting many land areas and doing a fair amount of damage. Its worst impacts were in Haiti, where it killed an unspecified number of people, since I'm not sure when a missing person can safely be declared dead.
1967
When Alex struck a month ago, Houston's TV stations sent reporters down to the Rio Grande, where the river that can't even flow into the sea usually looked like an actual river. Seems Alex caused a spot of rain down there. Seriously, the flooding was compared to Beulah, the strongest hurricane of 1967. There was a storm surge of 20 feet at South Padre Island. 100 mph gusts were recorded at McAllen and Edinburg, and 100+ sustained at Brownsville. The storm caused 115 tornadoes, a record not broken until 2004.
1968
No Betsys or Beulahs this year. Abby was a rare June hurricane. Gladys was the costliest storm, affecting the southeast coast.
1969
This was an active season, with 18 storms forming, but only one is remembered. Before Katrina, there was Camille - one of only three Cat-5s to hit the US. (the other two: 1935 Keys hurricane, Andrew) Anyway, the Cat-5 speaks for itself. It consumed the coast. Supposedly there was a hurricane party where only one survived - didn't happen. Less than 1000 died. Notably, unlike Katrina, Camille did not affect New Orleans - it was a rather small storm. The smallness also meant that its (very large - 24 feet) storm surge was smaller than Katrina's. The storm caused flash flooding as it passed over the Appalachian Mountains in VA and WV. Camille also inspired the creation of the Saffir Simpson hurricane wind scale.
Martha is semi-notable: it made landfall in Panama (only known storm to do so) and was the farthest south landfalling storm we know of.
Before Katrina, Betsy was the storm of record for New Orleans. Betsy is known for several things: its irregular track, first of all. It struck the Bahamas and south Florida (Miami was grazed by it). It was also the first hurricane to cause over a billion dollars in damage (not adjusted for inflation). The water it carried breached the levees. So, as a result, new levees were constructed - ones designed to resist storms like Betsy (ie, fast moving storms). But Katrina was much bigger and much slower than Betsy was.
1966
Two storms of note: Faith and Inez. Faith is notable mostly for its records: the storm with the longest track, the largest hurricane, the most northerly hurricane. (All these records are just for the Atlantic.) Inez is partly notable for its irregular track, but mostly notable for hitting many land areas and doing a fair amount of damage. Its worst impacts were in Haiti, where it killed an unspecified number of people, since I'm not sure when a missing person can safely be declared dead.
1967
When Alex struck a month ago, Houston's TV stations sent reporters down to the Rio Grande, where the river that can't even flow into the sea usually looked like an actual river. Seems Alex caused a spot of rain down there. Seriously, the flooding was compared to Beulah, the strongest hurricane of 1967. There was a storm surge of 20 feet at South Padre Island. 100 mph gusts were recorded at McAllen and Edinburg, and 100+ sustained at Brownsville. The storm caused 115 tornadoes, a record not broken until 2004.
1968
No Betsys or Beulahs this year. Abby was a rare June hurricane. Gladys was the costliest storm, affecting the southeast coast.
1969
This was an active season, with 18 storms forming, but only one is remembered. Before Katrina, there was Camille - one of only three Cat-5s to hit the US. (the other two: 1935 Keys hurricane, Andrew) Anyway, the Cat-5 speaks for itself. It consumed the coast. Supposedly there was a hurricane party where only one survived - didn't happen. Less than 1000 died. Notably, unlike Katrina, Camille did not affect New Orleans - it was a rather small storm. The smallness also meant that its (very large - 24 feet) storm surge was smaller than Katrina's. The storm caused flash flooding as it passed over the Appalachian Mountains in VA and WV. Camille also inspired the creation of the Saffir Simpson hurricane wind scale.
Martha is semi-notable: it made landfall in Panama (only known storm to do so) and was the farthest south landfalling storm we know of.
Monday, August 2, 2010
1960-1964
1960
Two storms of note: Donna and Ethel. Donna was one of the most serious hurricanes to hit the Atlantic coast of the US ever. It holds the record for longest duration as a major hurricane - 11 days. It was strong, it was large, and it was slow moving. The storm made landfall in South Florida and proceeded up the entire east coast, producing sustained winds of over 100 mph as far north as Long and Rhode Islands. The storm caused anoxia around the Keys. The storm was followed by the comic relief of the season, Ethel, which formed in the Gulf, strengthened to a Cat-5, weakened to a TS, and made landfall in Mississippi. WTF? I believe, but cannot prove, that it was not a cat-5, not even close. Hurricanes aren't supposed to intensify or deintensify like that!
1961
Two storms of note: Carla and Hattie. Carla was unquestionably the worst hurricane to hit Texas since 1950. Ike may have been the most costly, but Carla made Ike look like Yahtzee. It caused hurricane force winds in Galveston. Its storm surge was 22 feet, which I believe is the record for Texas. It spawned an F4 tornado in Galveston. Dan Rather broadcast live from the seawall in the storm, paving the way for Geraldo, Anderson Cooper, the Hurricane Ike bear, the Anderson Cooper chicken, etc.
Hattie didn't strike the US. It struck Belize and Belize City dead on. The damage was severe enough that Belize moved the capital of the country to Belmopan further inland. Also, Esther.
1962
Not much happened in this season. The only storm that did any real damage was Daisy, which struck Nova Scotia. The storm caused high tides and (in Maine particularly) heavy rain and flooding.
1963
Two storms of note: Flora and Ginny. Flora struck Cuba at Gitmo, executed a loop over eastern Cuba, then departed. It also struck Haiti. And unfortunately, when anything strikes Haiti, thousands of people die. Flora is the sixth deadliest Atlantic hurricane. Flora also killed over 1000 in Cuba - I believe this is the storm that made Castro take hurricanes seriously. Cuba these days generally has death tolls in the single digits from hurricanes. (Of course, you probably have to take those statistics with a grain of salt.) Anyway, look at the rainfall map from Cuba. I can honestly say I don't know of any other rainfall map like that. Flora was also Haiti's rainiest hurricane ever, and by a lot.
Ginny was the comic relief of the season - I'm calling it notable because hurricane tracks don't come much stranger than that. Interestingly, Ginny struck late enough - in October - to cause snow in Maine. Snowicane!
1964
Four storms of note: Cleo, Dora, Hilda, and Isbell. Unfortunately, I'm getting tired. Cleo fucked up the following places pretty good: Guadeloupe, Dominican Republic, Haiti (gets fucked up by a passing thunderstorm), Miami area, Georgia, South Carolina, Norfolk area. Dora struck the Jacksonville area. It is the only known hurricane to make landfall around Jacksonville. It also fucked up St. Augustine pretty good. Hilda fucked up the following places pretty good: the offshore oil industry, Louisiana, really the entire Southeast US (rains). Isbell fucked up South Florida, especially by causing tornadoes.
No one really talks about Cleo anymore - there have just been too many strong Miami hurricanes. Betsy, for instance. Hilda was also overshadowed by Betsy, I think. Isbell - again, a lot of south Florida hurricanes over the years. Donna comes to mind. Dora has not been overshadowed and is still the storm of record for that region of the country. Tomorrow, I will cover Betsy.
Two storms of note: Donna and Ethel. Donna was one of the most serious hurricanes to hit the Atlantic coast of the US ever. It holds the record for longest duration as a major hurricane - 11 days. It was strong, it was large, and it was slow moving. The storm made landfall in South Florida and proceeded up the entire east coast, producing sustained winds of over 100 mph as far north as Long and Rhode Islands. The storm caused anoxia around the Keys. The storm was followed by the comic relief of the season, Ethel, which formed in the Gulf, strengthened to a Cat-5, weakened to a TS, and made landfall in Mississippi. WTF? I believe, but cannot prove, that it was not a cat-5, not even close. Hurricanes aren't supposed to intensify or deintensify like that!
1961
Two storms of note: Carla and Hattie. Carla was unquestionably the worst hurricane to hit Texas since 1950. Ike may have been the most costly, but Carla made Ike look like Yahtzee. It caused hurricane force winds in Galveston. Its storm surge was 22 feet, which I believe is the record for Texas. It spawned an F4 tornado in Galveston. Dan Rather broadcast live from the seawall in the storm, paving the way for Geraldo, Anderson Cooper, the Hurricane Ike bear, the Anderson Cooper chicken, etc.
Hattie didn't strike the US. It struck Belize and Belize City dead on. The damage was severe enough that Belize moved the capital of the country to Belmopan further inland. Also, Esther.
1962
Not much happened in this season. The only storm that did any real damage was Daisy, which struck Nova Scotia. The storm caused high tides and (in Maine particularly) heavy rain and flooding.
1963
Two storms of note: Flora and Ginny. Flora struck Cuba at Gitmo, executed a loop over eastern Cuba, then departed. It also struck Haiti. And unfortunately, when anything strikes Haiti, thousands of people die. Flora is the sixth deadliest Atlantic hurricane. Flora also killed over 1000 in Cuba - I believe this is the storm that made Castro take hurricanes seriously. Cuba these days generally has death tolls in the single digits from hurricanes. (Of course, you probably have to take those statistics with a grain of salt.) Anyway, look at the rainfall map from Cuba. I can honestly say I don't know of any other rainfall map like that. Flora was also Haiti's rainiest hurricane ever, and by a lot.
Ginny was the comic relief of the season - I'm calling it notable because hurricane tracks don't come much stranger than that. Interestingly, Ginny struck late enough - in October - to cause snow in Maine. Snowicane!
1964
Four storms of note: Cleo, Dora, Hilda, and Isbell. Unfortunately, I'm getting tired. Cleo fucked up the following places pretty good: Guadeloupe, Dominican Republic, Haiti (gets fucked up by a passing thunderstorm), Miami area, Georgia, South Carolina, Norfolk area. Dora struck the Jacksonville area. It is the only known hurricane to make landfall around Jacksonville. It also fucked up St. Augustine pretty good. Hilda fucked up the following places pretty good: the offshore oil industry, Louisiana, really the entire Southeast US (rains). Isbell fucked up South Florida, especially by causing tornadoes.
No one really talks about Cleo anymore - there have just been too many strong Miami hurricanes. Betsy, for instance. Hilda was also overshadowed by Betsy, I think. Isbell - again, a lot of south Florida hurricanes over the years. Donna comes to mind. Dora has not been overshadowed and is still the storm of record for that region of the country. Tomorrow, I will cover Betsy.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
1955-1959
1955
This season was pretty active. I'll focus on the three storms with the biggest impact, but there were several other non trivial storms. The big ones: Connie, Diane, and Janet. Connie and Diane are pretty inseparable storms: both hit North Carolina and both dropped heavy rains throughout the Northeast. And, they hit within a week of each other. That's the problem. While both storms were bad on their own, Diane dropped its rain on thoroughly saturated ground, causing massive flooding throughout the Northeast. Connie flooded NYC and Diane was particularly devastating to New England. Diane was the first storm to cost over a billion dollars.
Janet was probably the worst storm of the season. Certainly it was the strongest and deadliest. It struck the Lesser Antilles pretty badly, and struck the Yucatan as a cat-5, killing hundreds of people. It struck mainland Mexico a little later, causing massive flooding in an area already saturated with rain from previous storms in the season. Janet was probably one of the worst storms on record for Mexico - it's hard to determine because the Yucatan has gotten struck by some of the strongest hurricanes ever: Janet, Gilbert, Dean. Wilma, for that matter. And a lot of others.
1956
Something weird about going through these old seasons is seeing names used for weak storms that would later be used for strong storms. For instance, this season contained storms named Betsy, Carla, and Dora, names that would be used for important hurricanes in the 1960s. Betsy and Flossy are the two most interesting storms in this season. Betsy caused heavy damage in Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico. Flossy was apparently the first storm to cause damage to oil refining in the Gulf. It also produced a fair amount of rain on the coast and throughout the SE United States.
1957
One storm of note in this season: Audrey. Before Rita (and Ike), there was Audrey. The storm speeded up before landfall and struck without warning, killing hundreds. It was the last hurricane to kill over 100 people in the US until 2005. The storm surge was particularly severe because of the land it struck - flat, marshy land where the surge could penetrate inland for a while. As a kind of bonus, the storm combined with a front and caused heavy rains in the Midwest, a tradition much later followed by Hurricane Ike.
1958
Two semi-interesting storms: Ella and Helene. Ella was a political storm: it struck Cuba, causing the Batista troops to stay indoors while the Castro rebels could advance or make progress or whatever the hell they did. Helene did not make landfall but grazed the NC coast, causing heavy damage to the towns on the coast.
1959
Before Hugo, there was Gracie - another bad storm for South Carolina. Thankfully, the storm struck at low tide so the surge wasn't too bad. There was heavy wind damage and some flooding in the state. Elsewhere, Gracie dropped a fair amount of rain on drought-stricken areas. As major hurricanes go, it could have been worse. Intriguingly, Gracie's retirement status is unclear. However, if the storm hit today, it would almost certainly be retired.
This season was pretty active. I'll focus on the three storms with the biggest impact, but there were several other non trivial storms. The big ones: Connie, Diane, and Janet. Connie and Diane are pretty inseparable storms: both hit North Carolina and both dropped heavy rains throughout the Northeast. And, they hit within a week of each other. That's the problem. While both storms were bad on their own, Diane dropped its rain on thoroughly saturated ground, causing massive flooding throughout the Northeast. Connie flooded NYC and Diane was particularly devastating to New England. Diane was the first storm to cost over a billion dollars.
Janet was probably the worst storm of the season. Certainly it was the strongest and deadliest. It struck the Lesser Antilles pretty badly, and struck the Yucatan as a cat-5, killing hundreds of people. It struck mainland Mexico a little later, causing massive flooding in an area already saturated with rain from previous storms in the season. Janet was probably one of the worst storms on record for Mexico - it's hard to determine because the Yucatan has gotten struck by some of the strongest hurricanes ever: Janet, Gilbert, Dean. Wilma, for that matter. And a lot of others.
1956
Something weird about going through these old seasons is seeing names used for weak storms that would later be used for strong storms. For instance, this season contained storms named Betsy, Carla, and Dora, names that would be used for important hurricanes in the 1960s. Betsy and Flossy are the two most interesting storms in this season. Betsy caused heavy damage in Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico. Flossy was apparently the first storm to cause damage to oil refining in the Gulf. It also produced a fair amount of rain on the coast and throughout the SE United States.
1957
One storm of note in this season: Audrey. Before Rita (and Ike), there was Audrey. The storm speeded up before landfall and struck without warning, killing hundreds. It was the last hurricane to kill over 100 people in the US until 2005. The storm surge was particularly severe because of the land it struck - flat, marshy land where the surge could penetrate inland for a while. As a kind of bonus, the storm combined with a front and caused heavy rains in the Midwest, a tradition much later followed by Hurricane Ike.
1958
Two semi-interesting storms: Ella and Helene. Ella was a political storm: it struck Cuba, causing the Batista troops to stay indoors while the Castro rebels could advance or make progress or whatever the hell they did. Helene did not make landfall but grazed the NC coast, causing heavy damage to the towns on the coast.
1959
Before Hugo, there was Gracie - another bad storm for South Carolina. Thankfully, the storm struck at low tide so the surge wasn't too bad. There was heavy wind damage and some flooding in the state. Elsewhere, Gracie dropped a fair amount of rain on drought-stricken areas. As major hurricanes go, it could have been worse. Intriguingly, Gracie's retirement status is unclear. However, if the storm hit today, it would almost certainly be retired.
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