The 53rd anniversary of Hurricane Camille… Category 5 landfall and one of the most devastating hurricanes in US history – Worried about that?
Paul Dorian
Hurricane Camille on August 16, 1969. Image captured by NASA’s ATS III satellite.
overview
1969 was a remarkable year and will be long remembered as the year man first walked on the moon, the Miracle Mets shocked the sports world, and the Woodstock Festival took place in upstate New York. It will also be remembered as the five major hurricanes – Hurricane Camille – that hit the United States as a Category 5 hurricane and the second most intense tropical cyclone on record (only the 1935 Labor Day hurricane had lower central pressure during landing). Hurricane Camille made landfall in Mississippi and devastated the Gulf states deep inland in the Mid-Atlantic with widespread flooding, record rainfall, and it claimed hundreds of lives along the way. its breaking.
A NOAA chart from 1969 with the path of Hurricane Camille; Credit NOAA
Development stage
The first satellite image was taken on April 1, 1960 (TIROS), and weather forecasters knew that one of the best uses of this newly introduced tool was its ability to track waves. tropical waters over the open seas of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Indeed, with the use of satellite imagery, forecasters first recorded a tropical wave off the coast of Africa as early as August 5.order, 1969 and this wave moved westward over the open tropical Atlantic Ocean. Subsequent satellite imagery shows the system crossing the Leeward Islands on 10order of August still had no clear circulation, but that began to change a few days later. Until the 14thorder of August, Air Force reconnaissance aircraft sent into the turbulence area obtained a central pressure of 999 millibars along with surface winds of 55 mph, and satellite imagery shows much more of how traffic with many bands of heavy rain. At this point, the legacy tropical system named “Camille” has reached tropical storm status.
Camille ceased to be a tropical storm as long as it had favorable conditions to strengthen in mid-August 1969. The storm moved slowly to the northwest and its central pressure continued to decrease. Until August 15order, Camille reached hurricane status as it headed for Cuba with winds of up to 115 mph. Camille passed through western Cuba as a Category 1 hurricane and produced 92 mph winds and 10 inches of rain.
Up to 16order of August, Camille passed through Cuba and pushed through the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, where it continued to strengthen. Another Air Force reconnaissance aircraft flew into Camille’s line of sight at this time, and a central pressure of 908 millibars was recorded using drop windows. Hurricane Camille is currently heading immediately to the northern Gulf coast in a north-northwest direction at 14 mph, and it has been called a “small but dangerous” storm by the U.S. Weather Bureau. Storm alarms on this day were posted to stretch more than 400 miles from Biloxi, Mississippi to St. Marks, Florida.
The storm watch went into effect August 16 over a wide section of the North Gulf coast as Camille crossed the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico; Source NOAA / NWS
Landing
On August 17order, Hurricane Camille reached Category 5 status and is located about 250 miles south of Mobile, Alabama. The Gulf states are currently in a state of crisis to prepare for the monster storm to make landfall. The last Air Force reconnaissance aircraft reading was taken on the afternoon of the 17thorder and a central pressure of 901 millibars was measured with maximum surface gusts above 200 mph. There was only one other time that central pressure was measured at this low, during the 1935 Labor Day hurricane that finally crossed the Florida Keys between Miami and Key West. As landfall approached the northern Gulf coast, winter winds ahead of Camille created a storm surge through the swamps of southeastern Louisiana. Meteorologists warn that “never before has a densely populated area been threatened by such an extreme storm as Camille.” A mass evacuation left coastal towns along the Gulf Coast and those who remained likely to perish in the storm (there were rumors of “storm sides”, but there weren’t any survivors). to recall them).
Hurricane Camille path with updated wind speeds; Licensed NOAA, ESRI, Earthstar Geographics
Hurricane Camille made landfall on August 17order at approximately 10:30 p.m. (CT) passing through Clermont Harbor, Waveland and Bay St. Louis in the state of Mississippi. In 1969, it was only the second Category 5 hurricane to hit the US on record. Many weather stations that are supposed to record pressure and winds were destroyed during the storm, and many records are only estimates and have ranges of up to 200 mph in gusts. The calculated maximum surface wind was near 201.5 mph near the center of Camille on the afternoon of August 17. The highest actual measurement on a wind instrument of 172 mph was found on the machine. record the Esterline Angus wind speed and before the device emits due to a paper jam. The maximum sustained winds will never be known for sure. Catastrophic flooding has occurred from Louisiana to Florida with tides reaching a maximum of 24.2 feet above mean sea level in some spots.
Flood photo from the University of Colorado / CIRES 30order reminiscence memories
Devastation deep inland with catastrophic flooding in Virginia
Camille weakened to a tropical depression as it passed north of Mississippi and into western Tennessee. It then turns northeast through central Kentucky and then eastwards through southernmost West Virginia and southern Virginia. On August 19, atmospheric conditions combined to cause extreme rainfall, and local geographic features increased the likelihood of catastrophic flooding on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains – but very few were prepared for what was to come. Specifically, what remains of Camille is moving into an area of tropical air with an existing cold tailgate at the surface and an enhanced jet trail overhead. In this part of Virginia, there is a narrow valley with steep ridges and headwind amplified precipitation. The combination of this extremely unstable atmosphere and local geographic features has resulted in historic and deadly flooding.
Rainfall is heavy across the northern Gulf coast and on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains; Credit NOAA
More than 26 inches of rain occurred on the slopes between Charlottesville and Lynchburg, Virginia over a 12-hour period. Nelson County, Virginia recorded 27 inches of rain with reports that the rain was so heavy that birds drowned in trees. [A post-storm “reanalysis” by NOAA suggests over 30 inches of rain fell in as little as eight hours in some spots]. Survivors recall a night in the mid-19sorder and 20order August’s stormy weather followed by thunderstorms and thunder so intense that “it was like day and the lightning didn’t flash, the sky just lit up literally”. A total of nearly 3800 landslides were calculated within Nelson County, Virginia using LiDAR scans alone, and 123 of the 153 deaths in the state during this storm occurred in this particular county. After Camille, the landscape changed so much that topographic maps were outdated. To this day, the hillsides remain bare with exposed rock, where landslides have devastated and stripped the forest. Rainfall tripled Virginia’s record and hasn’t been broken since. (Credit to Jason Elliott (NWS, Sterling, VA .)) for more information on Camille and its effect on Nelson County, Virginia).
Hurricane Camille was the second strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States in terms of central pressure; Credit NOAA
Final Notes
Hurricane Camille will always be remembered as one of the most destructive hurricanes in U.S. history and one of only four Category 5 hurricanes to hit the United States. In addition to Hurricane Camille and the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, two other Category 5 hurricanes made landfall in the United States, and both occurred after 1969. Hurricane Andrew hit the southeastern part of Florida in August 1992. and Hurricane Michael made landfall in October 2018 over Florida’s panhandle. In Michael’s case, the Category 5 status didn’t appear until next month after a “reanalysis” by NOAA increased its winds to 5 mph while making landfall near Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base. , Florida compared with the original activity estimate, and this increase pushed the hurricane into Category 5 territory.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Arcfield
arcfieldweather.com
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