Louisiana Hurricane History

[Ptarmigan]

Louisiana Hurricane History
http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/research/lahur.pdf

[PTrackerLA]

That is very interesting, thanks for sharing.

[MGC]

Interesting....but plenty of inaccurate data.....MGC

[vbhoutex]

Interesting....but plenty of inaccurate data.....MGC

Can you provide corrections?

[Bocadude85]

Interesting....but plenty of inaccurate data.....MGC

Can you provide corrections?

I do believe the part where they state that Hurricane Camile is the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States is incorrect.

Wouldnt that title go to the 1935 Labor Day hurricane in the Florida Keys?

[MGC]

The Camille statement and additionally the winds of Katrina of 140mph at landfall in Buras. I'll have to refer to my hurricane notes but I'm certain there are more....MGC

[Hurricane Jed]

I've never liked Roth's Texas or Louisiana Hurricane History. Like MGC said, lots of inaccuracies. Since when did the Freeport Hurricane of 1932 become Texas' strongest? It was the 1886 Indianola Hurricane. Roth had to have known reanalysis was going on. Especially since both PDF's were updated in 2010.

[thegreatdr]

Certainly. I've been involved in the hurricane reanalysis peripherally since 1997. I know in the Texas Hurricane History the lowest measured pressure measured by an observer was listed as during the 1932 hurricane, and that the highest reported wind gust for Louisiana measured or estimated by observers at ground level was during Camille. Recon doesn't observe or estimate surface pressure or winds over land. Could Katrina or some other storm have produced higher gusts? Sure...but as far as I am aware, no one has reported higher. HURDAT lists Katrina as a category 3 impact on Louisiana and Camille as a category 5 impact on Louisiana, which on its face should substantiate which was stronger within the state borders. Could any other hurricane have caused a lower pressure at ground level? Sure...but as far as I am aware, no one has reported lower. Those tables are merely showing the lowest measured pressure, highest reported wind gust, highest reported rainfall amount, and highest reported death tolls. HURDAT doesn't have highest wind gust as an archived quantity.

If I stated in the documents that the 1932 hurricane was the strongest in Texas, list the page number and I'll correct it. Lowest pressure merely indicates a deeper area of low pressure, not necessarily stronger winds. The August 1886 hurricane likely had such winds, but they weren't reported, as the Signal Corp office blew away before the instrumentation could make such a reading. Those tables in the documents are meant specifically for the states they discuss, not for the country or Atlantic basin as a whole. Just beyond the tables of extremes are tables showing chronologically the intensity of the hurricanes which struck both states. I'm certainly open to fixing any errors which may be in the documents. I'm sure there are a few. I'm only human, and the documents are long. =)

[Hurricane Jed]

Not saying you did it just comes off that way. Its misleading, Page 11 for example you just say Tropical Cyclone Records in Texas. Well what kind of tropical cyclone records? Those according to HURDAT or those officially recorded? It isn't stated and the above listed pressures for storms can make it a bit confusing. Maybe have a table with officially recorded pressures and then another that says most intense according to HURDAT. Also the rainfall amount from Amelia is off by two inches it should be 48 inches at Medina. Its in one of your articles, Tropical Cyclone Point Maxima. There are some really good things about these articles, after all no one else has taken the initiative to compile a hurricane history for Texas. I'm sort of a stickler for accurate data especially when it comes to Texas weather.

[thegreatdr]

It could be stated more clearly. Next time I update it, I'll fix the Medina typo and provide some sort of subheader stating "these are measurements and estimates made by observers at ground level." I do believe another Texas hurricane history was written in book form during the 1980's, but I was never able to obtain a copy when preparing the histories. Any and all other feedback is appreciated. I still find random typos here and there, even after 15 years.

[Hurricane Jed]

I have a copy on me. Hurricanes on the Texas Coast if that's the book you are referencing. Its rather short though and your history is much much more detailed. I found surprisingly the Texas Almanac to be a decent source of info.

[thegreatdr]

Bomar's book on Texas Weather was helpful. One of these days, the information within the Colonial archives in Seville and Great Britain will be digitized, and there are bound to be surprises and a bit more information available through them. Because of the age of the documents, it could take decades. A couple Spanish researchers were trying to comb through the Seville archive about a decade ago to find hurricane-related information. There is another Spanish colonial archive in St. Augustine, Florida which was used for a hurricane history of southeast Georgia and northeast Florida a decade or so ago. Although I haven't heard of such, one would imagine a similar archive exists for France's colonial records, which could help out Louisiana in particular. Cary Mock has been going through plantation records to help flesh out weather information from Louisiana and South Carolina.

If Cary and Mike Chenoweth keep at it, we could see an expansion of HURDAT/the ATCF hurricane database back to 1825 within the next several years...a partial goal of the Paleotempestology conference from nearly a decade ago. Mike had been doing research and ship log digitization to support research he'd been doing on the "Year Without a Summer", and showed us a map of the 1816 hurricane season he was working on back in 2004. A busy season. One of these days, hopefully he'll get to publish it so we can all see/have a copy. =)

[Hurricane Jed]

Rather surprising the activity of the 1816 season given Mount Tambora's eruption lowering the planet's temperature by a few degrees. That would be nice. The Santa Ana Hurricane and Great Havana Hurricane were both likely Category 5 storms.

[thegreatdr]

It shouldn't be a surprise. Global warming research seems to be confirming subjective ideas some of us have had since 2000...that cool periods such as the Little Ice Age had greater TC activity, not less. This doesn't mean the systems were more intense, just that more TCs were likely initiated in a more baroclinic manner. The late 19th century in particular seemed prone to high latitude blocks near the East coast, making TC tracks like Hazel fairly common.

[Hurricane Jed]

yeah I've noticed how the Carolinas back in the 1800's seemed to receive more tropical cyclone activity than today.

[Hurricane Jed]

Its a pity we only have about 50 solid years of observation on the Atlantic because of satellite. If only we knew more about the early 1900's, 1800's, 1700's, 1600's and 1500's.