Hurricane Hugo( Luquillo, PR) Landfall Cat 4 Video.

[loro-rojo]

I remember reading once in this forum that true category 4 winds had only been recorded during Hurricane Charley, and during a hurricane that made landfall in Hawaii (cant remember the name of the cyclone).

Anyways, this amazing video shows what I believe to be category 4 winds in Luquillo, Puerto Rico. Since I am from Puerto Rico, and lived through the storm, this video is very shocking and sheds light to the true nature of this monster. What appear to be Cat 4 winds can be seen at around halfway throught the video.

Enjoy.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9Lhj2QUFIyQ

[cycloneye]

I saw the video in a conference here in San Juan and it's really impressive how those winds were blowing,and more impressive is the sound.Hugo has been one of the most strongest hurricanes to make landfall in Puerto Rico in it's history of many hurricane landfalls in the past centuries.

[Cyclenall]

I was going to post in this topic but the server went down before I could.

I watched between 16:00 and 18:00 minutes into the video and that's where that amazing screaming wind noise is. That wind gust at 17:12 in the video was most likely a low end category 5 wind gust . I can't imagine the sound pitch of that during the storm. I love the audio, truly something that you can't describe but just a screaming noise.

[HURAKAN]

Very impressive video. I had talked with many Puerto Rican people about Hurricane Hugo but I had never seen a video of it. Thanks for sharing it!!!

[vacanechaser]

yea this is Michael Laca who if i am correct was with the great jim lenoard on this one... he also has video during andrew from florida from the same location that warren faidley was in that he talked about in his book, "Storm Chaser"..

great stuff and a good site... http://www.tropmet.com

Jesse V. Bass III
http://www.vastormphoto.com
Hurricane Intercept Research Team

[Aslkahuna]

Yes, Mike Laca and Jim Leonard were indeed together for Hugo.

Steve

[Derek Ortt]

Hugo was NOT a cat 4 at Puerto Rico, it made landfall with 110KT winds, cat 3

In addition, most of Puerto Rico experienced winds of cat 1 or 2 status. Hugo caused less damage than Georges despite similar winds as the destructive winds were confined to the NE part of the territory, instead of spreading over the entire territory as it did in Georges

This point needs to be stressed, as this is how people get the impression that they experienced stronger winds than they did

[vacanechaser]

derek is correct.. it seems that hugo weakened from a 4 early in the morning of the 18th from 138mph to about 127mph just before hitting the island... the track also clipped the eastern and northeastern part of the island and this would mean that the strongest winds in the eyewall may have remained offshore..



Jesse V. Bass III
http://www.vastormphoto.com
Hurricane Intercept Research Team

[GeneratorPower]

My experience has also been that the maximum sustained wind speed is far too often focused upon as representing the strength of the hurricane. I don't believe that figure alone is sufficient to determine destructive power.

When you go looking at the actual sampled wind speeds from a storm like Andrew, for example, the maximum sustained winds occur only very close to the eyewall and as soon as you move out a few miles, it has dropped at least 1-2 categories.

This is why I do indeed like the category ratings we have, but I think the size of the wind field and the radial extent of the winds should be qualifiers.

[cycloneye]

The highest hurricane gust was clocked at 92 mph at the LMM International airport in Isla Verde.But there were higher readings at Roosvelt Roads Naval Station (120 mph).All the action from Hugo occured in the NE corner of the island.As a matter of fact,it was a beautiful day in the SW corner of the island with the sun out and no rain.

[Derek Ortt]

at the AGU conference in Dec 2006, I believe it was Dr Mark DeMaria who classified hurricanes via Kinetic energy at US landfall and found that Katrina had the most KE, despite its collapse in the 8 hours ebfore crossing the coast.

however, this is not practical in operational classifications as most people do not understand KE. It is a far better measure of damage potential though

[crownweather]

I was going to post in this topic but the server went down before I could.

I watched between 16:00 and 18:00 minutes into the video and that's where that amazing screaming wind noise is. That wind gust at 17:12 in the video was most likely a low end category 5 wind gust . I can't imagine the sound pitch of that during the storm. I love the audio, truly something that you can't describe but just a screaming noise.

I agree with Cyclenall about the screaming of the wind between 16 and 18 minutes. The sound actually ran shivers through my body. I have heard and read the wind sound from a major hurricane described as the "hurricane wail" and the scream of the devil and seeing this video, I believe it!!

[Ptarmigan]

at the AGU conference in Dec 2006, I believe it was Dr Mark DeMaria who classified hurricanes via Kinetic energy at US landfall and found that Katrina had the most KE, despite its collapse in the 8 hours ebfore crossing the coast.

however, this is not practical in operational classifications as most people do not understand KE. It is a far better measure of damage potential though

Interesting. I wonder how Dr. DeMaria calculate KE in Katrina?

[Derek Ortt]

there were no cat 5 gusts in PR from Hugo. That "cat 5" gust likely was a cat 3 gust

The KE is based upon the size of the storm along with the intensity

[Cyclenall]

I was going to post in this topic but the server went down before I could.

I watched between 16:00 and 18:00 minutes into the video and that's where that amazing screaming wind noise is. That wind gust at 17:12 in the video was most likely a low end category 5 wind gust . I can't imagine the sound pitch of that during the storm. I love the audio, truly something that you can't describe but just a screaming noise.

there were no cat 5 gusts in PR from Hugo. That "cat 5" gust likely was a cat 3 gust

If that wind gust was at category 3 strength, then a category 4+ gust would sound un-worldly. I was assuming it was a category 4 landfall.

[Derek Ortt]

Hugo did weaken to a cat 3 before hitting PR and the 125 mph winds almost certainly remained offshore.

it was a cat 4 though when it hit St Croix

A cat 5 gust is an EF3 tornado or higher. In other words, a low end cat 5 gust is one of those Florida tornadoes from a couple of weeks ago. A high end cat 5 gust is the Xenia tornado

[Typhoon Hunter]

That video is awesome and really captures the chaos of a hurricane.

I've just uploaded a video I took in Vietnam during typhoon Xangsane's landfall last October. Even though the winds weren't nearly as strong as Hugo the sound is still really eerie and unforgettable. Here' the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk5fDkFu1DE

[boca]

Is their a sat pic of Hugo crossing the island of PR in motion?

[MGC]

Hearing that wind scream was spooky.....MGC

[Ptarmigan]

The highest hurricane gust was clocked at 92 mph at the LMM International airport in Isla Verde.But there were higher readings at Roosvelt Roads Naval Station (120 mph).All the action from Hugo occured in the NE corner of the island.As a matter of fact,it was a beautiful day in the SW corner of the island with the sun out and no rain.

That's really bizarre that it was sunny in the southwestern part of Puerto Rico, while the the northeastern part was getting pelted by Hugo. I know Hugo when it was a Category 5 hurricane was quite small, it had hurricane force winds extending up to 30 miles from the eye. Over time, Hugo got larger and I believe it had hurricane force winds extending at least 100 miles from the center when it hit South Carolina.