Poll which is the biggest dodged bullet

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

Here is what I think...
Hurricane Lili
Hurricane Alex it could of hit.
Hurricane Emily for weaking before hitting the Yuctan
Hurricane Dennis to weaking before hitting the Gulf coast
Hurricane Ivan for weaking from a cat5 to by the hrd data showing less then 100 knots. I will say it made landfall as a 100 knot cat3.
Hurricane Andrew for not hitting Miami.
Camille for not hitting New orleans
Hurricane Charley for not hitting Tampa.
Hugo for not hitting a major citie but a forest.
Hurricane Bret for hitting no mans land.

Thats my list.

[Lori]

It's hard for me to pick just one.
I "experienced" Opal, Ivan, and Dennis. I personally dodged worse damage by each of them weakening before landfall.

Opal shocked everyone by strengthening overnight. The same area had been hit by Cat 2 Erin weeks before, so most people went to bed with the mindset of riding Opal out. People woke up to a Cat 4 Opal and there was panic and gridlock with everyone heading north trying to evacuate. The area was not prepared. Some people spent the storm outside and others were stuck in their cars. If Opal hadn't weakened...lives would have been lost.

Lili was huge monster the night before she hit. A train (I counted 5) of waterspouts/tornados from an outer band came close to my house (I live over 350 (crow flying) miles from New Iberia, Louisiana. It didn't seem like the people there were prepared for a major hurricane. That afternoon my friend from New Iberia said her parents were going to ride it out in their brick house on Bayou Teche. Thank God Lili weakened.

I vote for Lili because if she hadn't weakened so significantly the flooding would have been devastating.

[WindRunner]

What about Camille not hitting New Orleans?

[KWT]

Hard to tell to be honest,I picked Andrew though simply due to much many more time worse it could have been if it hit Miami dead on,many times more damage could have been possible and that is saying something when remmebering how much damage Andrew did anyway!

[EDR1222]

Lili seemed like the one that really fell apart before landfall. Still, it did some damage, but the way that storm weakened so rapidly was interesting.

[AussieMark]

Floyd plowing thru southern Florida as a strong category 4 would of been absolutely devastating.

Floyd was a massive system and hurricane force winds covered a large area

[Derek Ortt]

Ethel was not anywhere near cat 5 intensity. With a 981mb pressure? Based upon a 140KT estimate at 1000 feet? Does not even pass the giggle test. Even if the 140KT was real, which it likely was not, that only equates to about 105KT at the surface

[Derek Ortt]

how about Diana in 1984 or Emily in 1993

[Patrick99]

Floyd was expected to spare Florida the brunt....a close call, perhaps, but in the end Floyd did what it was supposed to do, which was turn off the coast of Florida.

I think I'd have to go with Isidore plowing into Mexico, because she looked GOOD at that point, and would have been very tough for someone on the Gulf coast to deal with.

[facemane]

What about Camille not hitting New Orleans?

This gets my vote as well, Had Camille struck New orleans directly instead
of coming ashore 40 miles to the east,New orleans might not be on the
map anymore.

[M_0331]

I agree with Derek about Diana in 1984, I lived thru Diana. It come a shore one night as a Cat 4 at the mouth of Cape Fear river, then backs out to sea. The next night it comes charging ashore at same place as a weak Cat 3. There was lot of difference between 140 mph and then 115 mph winds. There was still a lot of damage, we dodged the bullet big time. I have been thru Hazel in '54 and Hugo, so I have seen what Cat 4 storms are like.
Eddie

[Jim Cantore]

Even Andrew missing New Oreleans

[Canelaw99]

I voted for Bret. I can't believe there are THAT many people who think Andrew missing Miami was the biggest, best miss. Do you realize that Homestead is JUST NOW getting off on the right foot, and this is 13 years later! Talk to people who were here then. My husband's parents' house, in Miami, had serious damage to it. My upstairs neighbor's parents' house was flooded and damaged. They had no way to get groceries except to WALK up to the turnpike to meet relatives because there was nothing else. Yes, Miami would have been devastated had Andrew hit there, but Homestead WAS devastated...people lost everything. Tell THEM that it was a good thing that Andrew missed Miami and see what they say.

*getting off the soapbox now*

[du1st]

I say,frances,ivan,andrew,lili,isabel,and mitch. were all the biggest misses but I say Ivan was number 1.

[Derek Ortt]

you even dodged a bigger bullet with Diana, it came onshore not with 115 m.p.h. according to best track, but with winds of 90-100 m.p.h.

[wxmann_91]

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but dud hurricanes interest me.

What about Allen in 1980 and s. TX? It hit a rural area as a Cat 3 instead of a powerful Cat 5 like it was forecast to.

[Anonymous]

Was Allen ever at one point forecast by the NHC to make a Cat 5 US Landfall?

[gkrangers]

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but dud hurricanes interest me.

What about Allen in 1980 and s. TX? It hit a rural area as a Cat 3 instead of a powerful Cat 5 like it was forecast to.

I'd think a Cat 3 vs a Cat 5 would suck equally bad for the cows...

[sma10]

It would really be a stretch to convince the people of Central America (and their 10,000 dead friends and relatives) that they "dodged a bullet" with Mitch.

[wxmann_91]

It would really be a stretch to convince the people of Central America (and their 10,000 dead friends and relatives) that they "dodged a bullet" with Mitch.

Yeah, in fact I believe that it is more of a surprise hurricane, seeing how it bombed to 905 mb and that though it weakened, it did so because it was slow moving and that slow movement killed 13,000 people. And had it moved faster and actually hit Honduras as a Cat 3 or 4 (though not 5) it would've killed less.