Nice radar loop of Frederic in '79
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- AL Chili Pepper
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Nice radar loop of Frederic in '79
I ran across a pretty good radar loop of Frederic while randomly browsing through youtube. I never had seen any good radar images up until now. I've heard before that Frederic had just completed an eyewall replacement when he crossed the coast. It does look like the eye was becoming better organized.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owggds91Wno
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owggds91Wno
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- ncupsscweather
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Very nice loop on this important storm from '79. It was during the late seventies that the public first began to get regular sat photos as part of their normal weather programs on local channels. These weren't loops but were still sat photos (visible image only). I remember as Frederic entered the Gulf, very near Key West, and strengthened from Cat 1 to Cat 3 (lets just say major--I'm not a fan of these categories), a sat image was displayed on the morning program "Good Morning America" of Frederic in the central Gulf, with landfall for the Al Gulf Coast pending later that day or the next. The New York program anchors upon looking at this photo gasped at the terrifying site. It was around this time that hurricanes in general began to get more coverage from the national media. You might not be aware of this, but in the sixties, it was pretty much up to your local media to give you hurricane info. There was no weather channel, and the national media out of New York were pretty much oblivious to threatening storms. It was only after landfall that you got coverage from the networks.
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Absolutely, Berwick Bay. I remember that, after Frederic, we were listening to the local radio station that morning. They said that we were pretty much cut off from the rest of the world. We went downtown to Crystal Ice to get ice the afternoon after the storm as it was the only place that still had ice. While there, two helicopters came flying over. The cops who were there told us that was the national news media. It had taken them almost 12 hours to get here after the storm. Yeah--- unlike now, they didn't have anyone riding out the storm and reporting minute-by-minute accounts. Of course, even then they were pretty sensationalistic: Our relatives up north gathered together food and supplies for us because the national news media reported we were all starving! Actually, we were eating, shrimp, crab, fish, and steaks-- cleaning out the contents of the big freezer before they spoiled!
Also, the only satellite image of Frederic I think I'd ever seen before this was an image of the storm just as it was making landfall. I don't know if they showed radar images on the TV news before Frederic made landfall. As a child, I was too busy waiting for news that school would be out! I wish my Daddy were still with us. I'm sure he'd remember everything!

Also, the only satellite image of Frederic I think I'd ever seen before this was an image of the storm just as it was making landfall. I don't know if they showed radar images on the TV news before Frederic made landfall. As a child, I was too busy waiting for news that school would be out! I wish my Daddy were still with us. I'm sure he'd remember everything!
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wobblehead wrote:I remember Frederick very well as I was 22 at the time. A unique feature of Frederick at landfall was the lack of heavy rains because the sytem had sucked in dry air from the Carolinas. I do not recall the rainfall totals but I remember there was not much rainfall during the storm.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_w ... elim03.gif
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Also, you might remember that Frederick and David were like terrorizing "cousins" that season of '79. David of course came first. But for awhile both of these systems existed together on your tropical map. David grew to be a monster storm bringing 150 mph winds to the Dominincan Republic and killing about 2,000 people there before turning up toward the Bahamas and South Fl. raking the coast there and making landfall in South Carolina as a 90 mph storm. But as David moved out of the Carribean it was soon followed by Frederick which was made hurricane strength before being broken up by the island of Cuba?? i believe. But as it moved into the Gulf near Key West it grew again to a 130 mph storm in the central Gulf. Those storms together along with the drenching of Tropical Storm Claudette along the Texas Coast provided the highlights as I recall of 1979. Remember the disco song "We Are Family"? But then I always hated disco!
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- MGC
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I arrived in Pascagoula in October 1979. I was in the Navy stationed at Ingalls Shipyard. Pascagoula was quite tore up from wind damage. I had trouble finding a apartment to rent because either they were still undergoing repair or rented. Seems after every major hurricane there are housing issues. In the summer of 1980 I was flying out of the Mobile airport. While waiting I paid a visit to the NWS office there. The met on duty didn't have much to do, as much of the nation was suffering through a long heatwave. I recall discussing Hurricane Allen, and what an incredible hurricane it was. I also recall a large satellite picture of Hurricane Fredrick on the wall. It was the first printed picture of a hurricane from the GOES satellite I can recall seeing.....MGC
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Berwick Bay wrote:Also, you might remember that Frederick and David were like terrorizing "cousins" that season of '79. David of course came first. But for awhile both of these systems existed together on your tropical map. David grew to be a monster storm bringing 150 mph winds to the Dominincan Republic and killing about 2,000 people there before turning up toward the Bahamas and South Fl. raking the coast there and making landfall in South Carolina as a 90 mph storm. But as David moved out of the Carribean it was soon followed by Frederick which was made hurricane strength before being broken up by the island of Cuba?? i believe. But as it moved into the Gulf near Key West it grew again to a 130 mph storm in the central Gulf. Those storms together along with the drenching of Tropical Storm Claudette along the Texas Coast provided the highlights as I recall of 1979. Remember the disco song "We Are Family"? But then I always hated disco!
Frederick was nearly snuffed out by the outflow of David at one point. David recurved north as Fred continued west. Along its path Fred hit Puerto Rico, Diminican Republic, Haiti, East Cuba and west Cuba. Quite the survivor he was.
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- LSU2001
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11 pine trees down on the top of my house in Franklin Creek from Fred. Also my uncle lost most of his warehouse in Pascagoula from that storm. Even though we were on the western side it was still a heck of a ride.
TIm
TIm
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The posts in this forum are NOT official forecast and should not be used as such. They are NOT endorsed by any professional institution or storm2k.org. For official information, please refer to the NHC and NWS products.
The posts in this forum are NOT official forecast and should not be used as such. They are NOT endorsed by any professional institution or storm2k.org. For official information, please refer to the NHC and NWS products.
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