100°F Days And Major Hurricane Landfall On Upper Texas Coast

[Ptarmigan]

This maybe the summer where we may not see 100°F days. I looked at old data noticed summers without 100°F days had a major hurricane make landfall. This going from 1883 to 2010. Some years are not available at this time from 10/1909 to 12/1920. 12 August to October major hurricanes made landfall from 1883 to 2010. One major hurricane made landfall in July of 1909, the Velasco Hurricane.

Summers Did Not Reach 100°F and Major Hurricane Landfalls
1900*-Great Galveston Hurricane
1941*-Hurricane 2
1942*-Hurricane 2
1949-Hurricane 10 Latest Major Hurricane To Make Landfall In October
1961*-Carla
1983*-Alicia

6 out of 12 major hurricanes made landfall with no 100°F days in the summer. 5 of the 6 that had no 100°F had wet July's in the Upper Texas Coast and were in the top 20. As pointed out, a wet July is correlated with major hurricane landfalls for the Upper Texas Coast.


Summers Reached 100°F and Major Hurricane Landfalls
1886-Indianola Hurricane (First 100 on June 17, 1886)
1932-Freeport Hurricane (First 100 on July 16, 1932)
1945-Hurricane 5 (First 100 on August 17, 1945)
2005-Rita (First 100 on July 1, 2005)

4 out of 12 major hurricanes made landfall with 100°F. None of the July's were Top 20 wettest on record for Upper Texas Coast.


Not Known Due To Missing Data from 10/1909 to 12/1920
1915-Galveston Hurricane of 1915
1918-Hurricane 1

Code: Select all

Top 20 Wettest For Upper Texas Coast
1979    14.06           1
2007    13.72           2
1933    11.87           3
1942    11.82           4*
1903    11.42           5
2010    10.75           6
2006    10.63           7
1902     9.70           8
1900     9.57           9*
1943     9.24          10
1983     9.06          11*
1939     8.85          12
1936     7.97          13
1919     7.88          14
1941     7.61          15*
1961     7.55          16*
1976     7.51          17
1959     7.46          18
1908     7.31          19
1916     6.94          20

This is preliminary at this time. I will do a more thorough analysis to determine if there is a correlation. Looks like if summers do not see 100°F, there is a better chance for a major hurricane to make landfall, especially if they are wet July's.

A little interesting trivia about 1941 and 1942 major hurricanes. Both made landfalls on Tuesdays.


Source For Data
http://www7.ncdc.noaa.gov/IPS/coop/coop.html

Before 1969
Houston WB City

After 1969
Houston Intercontinental Airport

[barometerJane61]

Interesting data.Up here near Dallas is a contrast.We've had 15 -100 degree days this summer already.It is 100 degrees right now where I am at