KatDaddy wrote: very very rare that an October storm visits the Upper TX Coast
I looked through the NWS Hurricane History for Texas and here is what I found. These are all the hurricanes known to have hit anywhere on the Texas coast in October (and one in November) from 1836 to 1998.
Oct. 2-6, 1837 "Racer's Storm" Middle Texas Coast
Nov. 5, 1839 Galveston
Oct. 5, 1842 Galveston
Oct. 17, 1848 Lower TX Coast
Oct. 2-3, 1867 Brownsville
Sept. 30-Oct. 2, Middle Texas Coast
Oct. 12, 1880, Brownsville
Oct. 12-13, 1886 Galveston
Oct. 16, 1912, Brownsville
Oct. 3-4, 1949 Freeport
Oct. 15-16, 1989 "Jerry" Galveston
That is 11 storms in 162 years with an average of one storm per 14.7 years. (for the entire Texas coast)
I must say that the worst period to live on the Texas coast would have to be the period from 1875 to 1900. We got creamed on a regular basis in those days!
Anyway, here is the link. It is very interesting reading. There is also a similar site for Louisiana hurricane history too.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/research/txhur.htm
Brady