The Hurricane Season of 1959 Gordon E

DECEMBER1959 MONTHLY TT'EATHEB REVIEW 441

THE HURRICANE SEASON OF 1959 GORDON E. DUNN ANDSTAFF Weather Bureau Office, Miami, Fla.

1. GENERAL SUMMARY somewhat rare; there have been seven t'ropicalcyclones in May since 1932. Eleven tropical cyclones were noted in Atlantic waters Tropical cyclone activity continued at a,n above normal during the hurricane season of 1959 (fig. 1). This number rate during June and Julywit'h two st,orms in eachmonth; compares with an annual average of ten during the past, one of only stormintensitv, two barely of hurricane 20-25 years.Since there is considerable doubtwhether strengt,h, and one (Debra) of somewhat more than mini- one storm-Edith-fully met all the crit,eria of a tropical malhurricane intensity. The 700-mb. circulationin cyclone, the 1959 season may be regarded as about normal. June, [a] was characterized by above normal heights from Except for hurricanes Gracie and Hannah in late Septrm- the extreme southeastern Pacific across California to the ber andearly October, average intensity was unusually western Great Lakes region, with below normal heights weak.However, seven of the eleven stormsdid reach off t'he United States Atlantic coastacross southern Florida hurricane intensity at one time or another during their int>o the southernGulf and northwestern Caribbean. As a history. result there was deeper than normal easterly flow in the The season started early wit,h the first tropical storm Gulf of Mexico andnortllwest,ern Caribbean. However, developing on May 28. Activitycontinued high during the resemblancebetween the June 1959 circulation and Juneand July. There was an unusual lack of act'ivity that described by Ballenzweig [3] asfavorable for Gulf in the tropical Atlantic during August and early Septemberof Mexico tropical cyclorle development is at best only fair. untilFlora began to develop on September 9. Most of In July a posit,ive mean 700-mb. height anomaly was t,he tropical cyclone development was confined to the Gulf cent)eredover t,he nort,hen,sternUnited States and the of Mexico and the western Atlantic and only one storm CanadianMaritime Provinces. With negative anomalies originally attained hurricane int'ensity east of longitude ext'endingfrom the Gulf of Mexico eastwardover the 50" W. subtropical Atlantic [4], this resulted in an above normal Three t1urricanes"two barely of hurricane intensity- easterly flow north of, t8he axis of t'he negative anomaly. and four tropical c?;clones of only storm intensity reached But againresemblance to t'he departurefrom normal t,hecoastline of t'he UnitedSt'ates. Damage in the described by Ballenzweig as favorable t'o tropical storm United States from these storms totaled about$23jh million formation is onl- fair. with 24 fatalities, 22 resultingfrom Gracie, t,he only Tropical cyclone act,ivit>-in August was negligible. At majorhurricane to reach the United St'ates mainland. 700 mb., positiveheight anomalies extended from the Except for the 33 deat,hs and extensive damage in n'ova GreatLakes regionacross t'he northernAtlantic to the Scotiain connection withthe hurricane of June 17-21, Baltic Sea with a strong negative anomalJ- centered about there wereno otherknown deaths or evensignificant 30' N., 50' W.and with a, weaker departure over Cuba [5]. damage in North and CentralAmerica outside the United Thus east,erlies (westerlies) shouldhave been stronger States fromtropical cyclones. Damageand fat'alit,?; statisticsare shown in table 1. Thedamage statistics are estimates and arenecessarily approximate. TABLEl.-Fatality anddamage statistics, North Atlantic hurricane The May circu1at)ionpattern [l] included a mean ridge season 1959 over the eastern United States, averaging as much as 150 feetabove normal at, 700. mb.During the period May Deaths Deaths Storm Principal area affected in outside Damage 28-June I, the maximum positive height' anomaly over the United United States States northeasternUnited States was 320 feet,with height " deficit,s southeast of Bermudaand in the western Gulf .&rlene...... Louisiana". .. .~. .. ~-. .. . ~. . . ~ ~. unnamed.. ~... . . Nova Scotia.-...... ~ ~.. .~ ~.- .~~. of Mexico. This resulted in above normal easterly winds Southern Florida-".... ~~ ....~.. Cindy." ...... ~. S. Carolina ...--...... ~ ...... which is considered favorable for above normal tropical Debra .____...~..-Texas- .~.... ~ ....~ ....~ .....~... Gracie- .~...~...- S. Carolina, Georgia. Virginia ... cyclone 'activity. One storm developed inthe central Irene ..".~...... - Extreme northwestern Florida.. Judith- ...... _.._Southern Florida ...... -- -...---- and western Gulf of Mexico on May 28. A tropical de- - Total Le.-.-...... velopment this early in the season in the Altantic area is

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(weaker) tMississippi. over the subtropical portion of the western Atlantic and Riloisant InternationalAirport (New Orleans)received abovenormal over the northeastern United States and 11.09inches in 24 hoursand Houma, La., 11.35 inches CanadianMaritime Provinces, resulting in a return to from 0700 CST May 30 to 1030 CST May 31 and 13.13 above normal east'erly flow over the southern portion of inclle,s in three days. Heavy rains associated wit,h Arlene the North At'lantic Ocean. Hurricane activity in Septem- fell fromsoutheastern Louisiana to northern Georgia berwas normal or slightly higher. The troughin the result,ing in some crop damage and serious flooding along middle Atlantic continued at high latitudes but' did not some small streams; however, other propertydamage was extend as far south as in August. slight. Totaldamage was estimated at approximately $500,000. Beulah. June 15-18."Tropical Storm Beulah was first 2. INDIVIDUALTROPICAL CYCLONES detectedduring the night of June 15-16 when the SS Hondo reported a 50-kt. northeasterly wind with heavy Arlene, May 28-June 2.-Tropical storm Arlene orig- rain and highseas near 23O N., 96O W. The storm was inated in an easterly wave which was fairly well defined short lived asit drifted northwestward on the16th, with a northeast-southwest orientation over the Domin- westward during the 17th, and turned southward moving icanRepublic as early as May 23.Shower activity inland over Mexico south of Tampico on the 18th. indicating low stability wasevident over a wide area Highestwinds were est'imated by reconnaissanceair- including most of the Caribbean Sea and the Bahamas. craft at 61 kt.with lowe'stpressure 987 mb.This is At 0700 EST on the 25th, a weak cyclonic flow appeared consistent with Fletcher's formula [6] for maximum wind at 500 mb. over the northwestern Caribbean, but there based on minimum pressure. The stormweakened rapidly was no evidence of any concentrated bad weather. About on turning southward late on the 17th, and winds were this t'ime a slow but definite increase in pressure gradient generally less than 30 kt. as it moved inland. No reports began north of western Cuba, leaving an extensive area of damagehave beenreceived from Mexico; it was of relatively slight gradient over the west'ern Caribbean probably minor. Sea. This trend in the pressure pattern continued until Thesynoptic situat'ion contributing to the formation wind warnings were required for small craft on both coasts and dissipation of Beulahwas rather complex.Pressure of Florida on May 27. The 500-mb. T~ow,had moved first began to fall over the western Gulf on June 13 with into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on May 27 and on t,he movementof a weak cold front into the northernGulf. the 0700 EST surface chart of May 28 a ship report'cd a A rather strong anticyclone centeredover the Great Lakes light southwest wind at 22.5' N., 88.5' W., providing the contributed to a marked increase in the easterlyflow over first indication that the closed circulation had extended the northern Gulf. This High broke down rapidly on the down to the surface. 15th and 16th wit'h the approach of an active short wave Ship reports during theevening of May 28 confirmed the from the Plains States, probably one of the factors that development of tropicalstorm Arlene and the New prevented Beulah from becoming a well developed storm. Orleans Weather Bureau office at 2100 CST issued the first At the 500-mb level, a very deep Low was located overthe tropicalstorm advisory of the 1959 season. Thestorm New EnglandStates throughout this periodwith short center moved northwestward for about 12 hours from its waves"digging" sout'heastwardinto the Mid-Atlantic initial position near 26' N., 88' W. Thereafter it moved States. In theupper troposphere, conditions became westward for 12 hours, became stationary at 28' N., 92O favorablefor development in the western Gulf aftera W.during the night of May 29-30, andthen moved weak trough at 200 mb. in that area began to retrograde northward across the Louisianacoast between Weeks causing winds at Corpus Christi and Brownsville to shift Island and Pt. Au Fer, La., during the late afternoon of from northwest on the 14th to south and southweston the May 30.Winds diminished graduallyafter the center 15th. This condition was short lived as upper winds again crossed the coast. The low pressure center later moved shifted to west and northwest with the approach of an northeastwardand eastward across northernAlabama active short wave at middle latitudes on the 17th. 538491-60-3

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/04/21 11:37 AM UTC 444 MONTHLYREVIEW WEATHER DECEMBER1959 Unnamed. Hurricane, June 17-21 .-While Beulah was situationdevelop slowly, remainsmall, and seldom developing inthe southwestern Gulf of Mexico, an un- intensify to much more than minimal hurricane strength. stableeasterly wave was noted in the northwest'ern Cindy conformed t'o this pattern. Caribbean on June 15. This wave moved nort,hwestward On July 6, winds just east of the centerincreased to into the central Gulf on the 16th anda weak closed circu- 26-35 kt. as convective activity, evidenced by numerous lation appeared in the east-central Gulf on the 17th. It showers extending outward some 200 miles to the north, began movingnortheastward, while atthe same time contributed to the conversion from a cold to a warm-core Beulah inthe extreme western Gulf wasdrift>ing wesf. system. An intensifyinganticyclone increased the and south. easterly gradient north of the center and Cindy developed When the tropical depression was still about 350 miles and intensificd.Areconnaissance plane located the west of Miami, a tornado moved across the city of Miami eye late on t'he afternoon of the 7th some 190 miles east at about 10 p.m. EST on the 17th, lasting 20-30 minutes of Charlestonwith maximum winds 52 to 56 kt. and andcausing approximately $1,500,000 damage, many minimumpressure 997 mb.The smallstorm moved injuries, but no deaths. At the same time another tornado northwestward,reaching hurricane intensity a short formed north of West Palm Beach and lasted about 20 distance offshore, andthe center made landfall about minutes butfortunately traversed a sparselyinhabited 0245 GMT on the9th bet'ween Charlestonand George- area. The tropical cyclone moved across central Florida town, S.C. Winds of 56 kt. were recorded at McClellan- during the night of June 17-18 attended by heavy rains ville, R short'dist'ance inland, with squalls estimated at andgusty winds, fluctuat'ing rapidly in theSarasota- just about hurricane force in t'he sparsely settled coastal Bradentonarea from 9-13 kt.to 43 kt. Tides 2% to3 area.The storm tide was about 4 feetabove normal feet above normal were reported along the beaches from near the center. St.Petersburg to Naples causing damage estimated at The storm curvednorthward through South Carolina $156,000. Thetorrential rains following previousheavy on the9th and then turned northeastward at a little rainfallcaused considerable additional damage to crops, fasterrate to the southern tip of Chesapeake Bay by particularly in the Fort Myers area. lateafternoon on July 10. Thesustained winds had Severalbulletins on this storm were issued bythe dropped rapidly after the center moved inland but gusts Miami Hurricane Center. The last, on the afternoon of upto 39 kt. were stilloccurring at thistime. As the June 18, indicated windsof 43 to 56 kt., and thelikelihood remains of the circulation moved back into the Atlantic, of additionaldevelopment, andcontained cautionary marked re-int'ensificat'iontook place. At 0600 GMT, advices to shipping. wit,h the centersome 75-100 miles off t'heNew Jersey Afterpassing off theFlorida east coast the storm coast, the ship Ocean Monarch reported winds of 65 kt. deepened steadilyand at 0250 GMT on the19th, the justsoutheast of the center,and other ships reported AtlanticUnion reported a barometerreading of 993 45 to 50 kt. Accelerating nort'heastward,Cindy had mb.,falling, and west-southwesterly winds occasionally passedacross CapeCod by 1200 GMT July 11. Winds 80 kt. Although the hurrkane was in a diffused frontal were generally 22 to 35 kt. along the coast but ranged up zone, it now appearsto have remained warm-core and to 35 to 52 kt. over the openwaters just east of the essentially tropicalfor some time. The lowestreport'ed center with a gust of 59 kt. at Block Island, R.I. pressure was 974 mb. The hurricane struck the Canadian Theint'imate association of tropical storm behavior MaritimeProvinces in thevicinity of Northumberland with features in thewesterlies is well illustrated by Cindy. Straits. Associatedwind andbarometric data as the Three successive short wavesplayed important roles. storm moved inland are lacking, but the press report'ed The passage of the first of these across the northeastern 33 deaths,mostly lobster fishermen, and considerable United States was followed bythe development of the property damage. Notices of this severe storm had been cut-off Lowin which Cindyformed. The increase to carried in the NSS bulletins. storm intensity occurred as the next trough passed and Cindy, July 5-1W.-The fourth tropical cyclone of the thestorm was then deflected abruptlyto the west by season, Cindy,barely reached hurricane force before the following anticyclone.Finally, the intensification it crossed the coastlinenorth of Charleston, S.C., on on moving back to sea can probably be related in part July 8. The circulation which produced the st'ormhad to the passage of the third short wave in the series across been noticed first some three days earlier off the Florida thenortheastern United States atthat time. Some uppereast coast. Adeepening low pressure system re-int'ensificationoften occurs when a tropicalstorm had moved from the Great Lakes to the Canadian Mari- movesfrom landto sea butthe marked deepening of timeProvinces while the associated cold frontmoved Cindy was more than would normally be expected after southeastward and becamestationary from near Ber-- allowingfor decreased surface friction and increased muda to extremenorthern Florida. With the fracture moisturesupply but relatively low watersurface tem- of theshort-wave trough, a cut-off Lowdeveloped off peratures.However, it is significant that, coincidental the south Atlanticcoast-most pronounced at the500-mb. with the movement of Cindy off the coast, a short wave level. Usuallytropical storms forming in this type of passed to the north with a strong jet maximum (120 kt.

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or higher at 200 mb.)moving through New England. pressure of 1007.5 mb., indicated additionalintensification. The divergence pattern associated with this jet was such At 1200 GMT this ship had moved about60 miles west and as to favorhigll-level outflow from the storm, cont'ribut'ing t'hesurface winds had increased tosouthwest 50 kt. to re-intensification. That Debra was already a fullydeveloped hurricane is While Cindy was not typical of storms which develop evidenced by the radar photograph (fig. 2) taken at the in deep easterlies south of the subtropical ridge, its be- Dow Chemical Plant in Freeport at0733 CST July 24 when havior doesemphasize the necessity of recognizing and the set was turned on. KO spiral organization had been anticipating the effects of patterns in the westerlieson noted on the radarscope the previous afternoon. tropical cyclones. Reconnaissance aircraft located the center of tropical Since Cindy was small, of minimal hurricane intensity, stormDebra during the early forenoon of July 24. It and did notstrike a thickly populated area, property seems likelythe plane did not pass throughthe most damage was relatively minor. The only casualty reported severe squalls prevailing at the time. wasa man killed near McClellanville,S.C., when his Hurricane Debra increased further in intensity during automobile collided witha fallentree. Wind damaged the afternoon and eveningof July 24 and passed inland on some roofs and blew down trees and power lines in South t'heTexas coast between Freeport and Galveston near Carolinaand some damageto buildingsresult'ed from midnight on the24th. It continued slowly northward severalsmall tornadoes attending the storm innort'h- across extreme eastern Texas and rapidly lost intensity eastern North Carolina and southeasternVirginia. Heavy on t'he 25th arid 26th, andfinally lost its identity in central rains occurredalong andnear the storm path through Oklahoma on the 27th. South Carolina, North Carolina,sout'heastern Virginia, The subtropical ridge, surface and aloft, was fairly well andthe immediatecoastal areas northward to Maine. establishedover theAtlantic and westward across the The largest precipitation amounts were in Sout'h Carolina Gulf St'ates, while the east'erly wave in which Debra was with 6 to 8 inches general through central portions of the spawnedmoved from the Bahamas across theFlorida State and unofficial but reliable reports of up to 15 inches Straits and the Gulf of Mexico. At about the time that near Columbia. Local flooding of lowlandsresulted but Debra intensified and became a hurricane, a polar trough no major flood situations developed and the rains in t'he moved eastward into the central portion of the United Carolinas were largely beneficial as theyrelieved a drought States.This was responsiblefor the southerlyshift of situation. winds at 500 mb. and above that steered Debra northward Debra, July 22-27.-The beginning of hurricane Debra instead of west-northwestward or northwestward which canprobably be traced back to July 15. Considerable seemed indicated earlier. shower and thundershower activity began about this time The lowest reportedcentral pressure inhurricane in the western Bahamas and over Florida, under the in- Debra was 984.4 mb. fromthe Coast Guard Cutter fluence of a cold-core vortex which developed in the high Cahoone late on July 24. Dickinson, Tex. reported 986.5 troposphere and at 500 mb. drifted slowly southwestward mb.,the lowest readingfrom a landstation. Highest throughthe western Bahamas, over western Cuba, and reported wind was 70 to 78 kt. with gusts to 91 kt. from into the east Gulf of Mexico by the 20th. The ac,tivit#y BrazosFloodgates near Freeport, Tex. Tides were spread into theGulf as the upper circulation flattenedint,o generally 3 to 5 feet above normal over Galveston Bay. an inverted trough and continued westward. Morgan Point, at the head, or north, end of Galveston The first weak surface circulation, detected as early as Bay, reported the highest tide of 7.9 feet m.s.1. Rainfall 1900 EST onthe 20th, later. developed intohurricane was heavy throughout eastern Texas and extreme western Debra over the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. The circu- Louisiana;Orange, Tex., reported the greatest amount, lation continued weak until the 23d,when winds up to 14.42 inches. 22-30 kt. accompanied showers and squalls in the north- No casualties occurred in connection with Debra, but western Gulf and along the Louisiana and upper Texas ten persons suffered minor injuries in Brazoria County, coasts. Tex.Damage in Brazoria, Galveston, and the eastern An indication that someintense weather was in the portion of Harris County, Tex., wasestimated$6,685,000 at making in the west8ern Gulf of Mexico camefrom the with some additional in other areas. SS Atlantic Navigator (at 0000 GMT on the 24that 23.7" N., Development so close to the coastline is rather unusual 94.5" W.) which reported a northwest wind of 32 kt. with and the forecast problkm was complicated by lack of ship rough seas from the southwest. This was later correct'ed reports,and delays and transmission errors in the few to southwest wind of 23 kt'. The report indicated that a that were received. vortex was developing, which was later verified by reports Edith, August 17-19.-Tropical storm Edith formed in from that area and to the north toward t'he Texas coast' an easterly wave in the Atlantic Ocean east of the Wind- during the next 12 to 18 hours. wardIslands. At 1530 EST, August 17, reconnaissance A delayed observation, receivedat 1130 GMT on the 24th aircraft found a weak cent'er near 13.8" N., 57.2" W. The from the shipMezican Trader (located at 28.0" N., 94.2 OW.) minimumsurface pressure was 1007 mb., while highest reporting a surface wind from t'he sout'hwest at 40 kt. and winds were 30 kt'. insqualls north of the center. The

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FIGURE2.-Radar picture of hurricane Debra taken when the hurricanewas just off the coast. (Courtesy Roy C. Jorgensen, Dow Chemical Company, Frceport, Tex.)

storm was never well defined asit moved on a west- Flora, September 9-13."The history of the formation of northwestwardcourse withan average speed of 20 kt., Flora is rather uncertain beyond about 24 hours prior to passing throughthe Leeward Islands in the vicinity of the first advisory issuedat noon EST, September 10. How- Guadeloupeearly onthe 18th. Highest windsnever ever, four days earlier, on the afternoon of September 6, exceeded 48 kt. and the stormdissipated just to t'he south pressure and wind in the Cape Verde Islands indicated a of MonaPassage during thenight of August 18-19. trough passage. This t'rough could not be followed from Indeed, there is considerable doubt if a complete circula- day t,o day t'hrough the ocean area due to a lackof reports, tion ever existed and whether this disturbance meets the but if it moved at anaverage speed of 13 kt. itwould have specifications for a tropical st'orm. reached the position where Flora was found on September There were two important synoptic features associated 10 near latitude 22.1' S., longitude 46.3' W. Ship and withthis storm.Very warm air wasobserved in t'hc aircraft' report's indicated highest windsof 39 kt. andmini- middle troposphere just prior to formation, and the wind mum central pressure of 1008.1 mb. Succeeding positions field in the high troposphere never became favorable for of the stormcenter indicat'ed that it was alreadyon a high-level evacuation. northerly course andit continuedto curve through There were no reports of loss of life or of damage attrib- nort~hc&ward to east-nort'heastward, crossing the south- uhble t.o Edith. ernmostislands of t8heAzores grouplate on September

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t .cu G

HURRICANE GRACfE

"65 High water, ft. (MSL)

[liool Time of occurrence, EST

FIGURE3.-High water (ft., m.s.1.) recorded during hurricane Gracie, September 1959.

12. IJat8er thesame day reconnaissance aircraftfound Gracie, September EO-October 2.-Gracie, a major hurri- no evidence of atropical storm a,s it combinedwith a cane, was one of the most troublesome storms of the 1959 cold front and moved into a large polar Low. season to forecast. The easterly wave in which it formed By mid-morning of September 11, aircraft found t'hat had becn followed for some 5 days and its suddendevelop- Flora's winds had increased t,o barely hurricanc force, 65 mentand intensification is difficult to explain.Gracie's kt.,and the minimumpressure was 994 mb.The nest erratic movement bet,ween the 22d and the 27th, when at highest wind speed reported was 60 kt. 011 the aft'crnoon one time or another it moved in about every direction of of the same day when central pressure had risen to 1001.0 the compass (see fig. 1)' proved impossible to forecast in mb. On September 12, althougha lower pressure of detail. Thc windsin thesouthwestern 'Atlantic during 994.2 mb. was measuredas t'he storm became extratropical, this period at all levels were extremely light and variable highest surface winds were about' 45 kt. andthere was no wcll defined steeringcurrent. The Flora recurved quickly to the north and northcastward st'orm bcgan moving slowly but steadily toward the west- before she became a threat t'o any land areas cxcept the northwest on the27th and continued toward the west- Azores islands,due to a major trough in the westerlies nort'hwest, andnorthwest, passinginland on theSouth cxtending southward into the Tropics. ivo loss of life or Carolina coast near Beaufort around noon on the 29th. property damage has been att)ribut,ed to Flora. The easterly wave in which Gracie developed was first

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noted.The island of Mayaguanain the southeastern Bahamas reported 8.40 inches of rain during the 12-hour period from 1900 EST on the 21st to 0700 EST on the 22d. The hurricane was quite wet throughout its history. Thesurface pressure patternover the Atlantic from September 16-29 was about normal. The most important feature was the movement of a strong polar anticyclone from the northern United States into the western Atlantic, resulting in strong arlticyclogenesis and anincrease in low- level easterlies in the southwestern Atlantic. The initially cold High was graduedly t'ransformed into a warm anticyclone which extended well into the middle troposphere. However, weak short waves in the polar westerlies to the north of thehurricane shortly weakened the highand resulted in a very weak steering current. Not until the 27th, when rising height,s in the middle troposphere north and northwest of Bermuda increased the easterly current, did hurricanc Gracie develop a relatively straightforward movement. At 200 mb.a moderately strong high pressure cell existed about over and to the east and northeastof Gracie during September 22-24, but as Gracie drifted northward the High eventually became located south and southeast of the hurricane by tlle 25th and 26th. During this whole pcriod the circulation in the upper troposphere was very complex andcontained many small-scale cyclonic and anticycloniceddies. On the 28t'h and29th the overall ant'icyclonic flow had simplified greatly and the center of the uppcrlcvrl High again becamelocated north and northcast of Gracie resulting in a rather uniform steering currentfrom the east-southeast throughout t'he entire troposphere. The intensity of hurricane Gracie was as erratic as its movement. On September 22 the storm deepened rather rapidly to 997 mb. with winds 78 to 87 kt. On the 23d and %til, central pressure varied from 1000 to 1006 mb. with winds from 45 to 65 kt. On t'he 25t'h t'he minimum barometer again dropped to 997 mb. and reconnaissance aircraft reported an increase in maximum winds, the size of the storm area, and the intensityof weather around t'he eye. On the27th tlle central pressure decreased further to 979 mh. with an almostcomplet'e wall cloud. The Sept. 28 Sept. 29 Sept. 30,1959 hurricane cont,inued to intensify further during the next 2 days to 950 mb. F~GURE4.-Observed and predicted tides along the South Carolina The ccntcr of the hurricane crosscd t,he coast near Beau- coast preceding,during, and following hurricane Grncic,Sep- fort, S.C., nearnoon on September 29. The Marine Corps tember 1959. Auxiliary Air Stat'ionat' Beaufort reported a minimum baromctcr reading of 950 mb., a sust'ained 5-minute wind noted on September 16 about midway between the Lesser of 84 kt.,and gusts estimat'ed to 120 kt.Wind was Antilles and Africa. It moved westward at about' 17 kt. estimated as high as 152 kt. closer to the exact center of duringthe next 5 dayseventually moving into t'he t'he storm and gusts ashigh as 130 kt. seem quite credible. southeast'ern Bahamas. The wave was investigated daily After moving inland t'hc hurricane weakened gradually as by reconnaissance aircraft beginning on the 18th and no it tnrncd northward along the Appalachians. closed circulationwas founduntil the 22d. Indeed, the Rainfall of 3 to 8 inches occurred in South Carolina and wave remained remarkably constant in all details andwas portions of Georgia, while in North Carolina 2 to 4 inches attendedby heavy shower activityfrom the t'imefirst mere rcported with local amounts up to 8 to 10 inches.

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Some flooding occurred, particularly in the Carolinas and October 6. Winds near the center at this time were still Virginia and cropdamage, due to wind andrain, was estimated at 87 kt. Details of later stages arelacking but heavy in South Carolina and eastern Georgia. The rain- indications are that a gradual decrease in intensity then fall was generally beneficial in most sections from North began as the stormmoved northeastward, merging with an Carolina northward ameliorating near drought conditions intense cyclone centered southeast of Greenland. in many areas. Upper airdata in the area traversed by Hannah are A series of tornadoes attended the passage of the dying toosparse to permit a comprehensive study of factors storm through Virginia and 12 persons were killed in one associat,ed withits development. The 500- and 200-mb. tornado at Ivy near Charlottesville. Ten others lost their charts indicate that, t'he initiaI circulation formed under lives in South Carolina and Georgia, mainly due t'o auto- t,he eastern side of a progressive upper trough extending mobileaccidents, falling trees, and livewires. Wind southwardfrom the southern tip of Greenland. As the damage wassevere nearthe eye in the coastalarea as northernportion of the t'roughcontinued eastward and Gracie moved inland and was described asthe most severe the developing hurricane moved westward, it passed to the inthe history of Beaufort, S.C. Damagehas been south o€ a strong 500-mb. anticyclone,the sameHigh estimated at $14,000,000, about half occurring in Charles- which was associated with hurricane Gracie, and this was ton County, S.C. the period of maximum intensity of Hannah. Eastward Accurate det'ailed prediction of theextremely erratic motion of thisHigh permitt'ed firstGracie andlater course of this hurricane duringits early stages mas beyond Ranrlah t'o recurve. the capability of the science at thistime. After the HurricaneHannah never became a serious threatto steering current simplified early on the27th, forecasts and the Unit,cd St'ates coast, or to Bermuda, and it presented warningsissued in connection with Gracie were excep- no particularly difficult forecastproblems. The most tionally accurate. A hurricane watch was announced for unusual feature of the stormwas its long life and sustained thearea from Savannah, Ga. to Wilrnington, N.C., at intensity, somewht similar to hurricane Carrie of 1957, 1100 EST, September 28, andhurricane warnings were A hurricane beacon developedcooperatively by the Air issued at 1400 EST on the 28th for the area from Savannah Force Geophysics Research Directorate and the Weather to Wilmington. As a result of theaccurate warnings, Bureau was tested in the hurricane on October 14. Some evacuationfrom vulnerable islands and beacheswas highly encouraging results were obtained since the beacon almost total. Effective community action on the basis of balloon remained in and transmitt'ed signals from the eye these warnings and the IandfaII of Gracie near the time of for 24 hours on one occasion. normal low tide were responsible for the low loss of life. Irene, October 6-8.-Tropical stormIrene formed on Indeed,there were no knownfatalities from hurricane Oct'ober 6 in the central portion of the Gulf of Mexico tides and waves. The maximum tide was about 9 to 12 and moved rlorth-nort'lleastward during the nexttwo days. feet m.s.1. [7], (see fig. 3). The lowest sea level pressure reported by reconnaissance Figure 4 shows the continuous tide recordat Cllarleston, aircraft was1001 mb. The highestwinds were gusts of S.C. It can be seen thatthe peak difference coincided 48 kt. insqualls atthe PensacolaAirport. Irene was within an hour wit'll low tide. The high water marks in never a well organized stormand although the center figure 3 would undoubtedly have been much higher if the moved inlandnear Pensacola early on the Sth, highest stormcenter had reached the coasteither a few hours tides were 4.4 feet above normal at Cedar Keys, Fla., a earlier or later than it actually did. considerable distance east of the track and landfall. Ha,nn>ah,Xeptem ber97-October S.-On September 27, Prior to the development of Irene, a short wave with when hurricane Gracie was some 300 miles off the Florida surface cyclogenesis moved through the southern Plains eastcoast, ship reports indicat'ed the developnuxt of a and Texas on October 4. This permitted the trailing'cold broad cyclonic circulation centered in the Atlantic near fro~~t't>omove int,o t,he western Gulf of Mexico on the 5th; latitude 27" K., longitude 50" W. Aircraft reconnaissance t'he front t'hen dissipated leaving a rather sharp trough. the next day found a fully developed hurricane circulation At 500 mb.,temperatures over the western Gulf were and the fist advisory on Hannah was issued at 2300 GMT, relatively warm. At, 200 mb., a weak anticyclone persisted September 28. The hurricane at thistime was located over the surface development. near 27" X., 57" W. and was moving t'oward the west at No deaths werc reported and damagewas not significant. about 14 kt. with highest winds around 74 kt. Judith, October 17-21.-Activ-ity along the intertropical Hannah increased in intensity during t,he next48 hours convergence zone continued strong throughout mid-Octo- with central pressure dropping to 959 mb. and maximum ber inthe Caribbean and Central America area.Pilots winds reaching 108 kt. Minimum pressure and intensity reported 52-kt. squalls in the vicinity of 15' N., 73" w., remained about t'he same during the next three days as late on the l0t'h and early onllth, the but theperturbation thestorm curved northward about 200 miles west of cont'inuedalong the ITC with no development. During Bermuda and then accelerated to about 17 kt. toward the the afternoon of the llt'h a new unstable easterly wave east on October 4. The last advisory was issued when the approached the LeewardIslands, and Barbados experi- hurricane was 200 miles south-southwest of the Azores on enced heavysqualls. This wave moved steadily across

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/04/21 11:37 AM UTC 450 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW DECEMBER1959 the Caribbean at 15 kt. and on October 15 developed a tions and weather trends along the Florida Gulf coast in- weak circulation south of Jamaica.During this same dicated definite loss of intensity and hurricane warnings period, a tropicallow pressure pattern graduallydeveloped were changed to gale warnings at 0500 EST. in the Bay of Campeche, remaining essent’ially st’ationary, The storm center reached the coast near Boca Grande while a cold frontmoved slowly southeastwardfrom Island between 0800 and 0900 EST on the 18th, withlowest Texasinto the western Gulf of Mexico. pressure 999.0 mb., andvery little wind nort’hof the center. On the morning of October 16, the Caribbean wave had South of the center the maximum sustained velocity at drifted into the Gulf of Honduras, the Campeche depres- Fort Myers was south-southwest 35 kt., and gusts to 46 sion had weakened, and the west Gulf front had become kt.Total rainfall was 7.57 inches and highesttides 2% diffused. Squalliness had decreased althoughmoderate feet above normal. There were no deaths but one injury. squalls were stilloccurring as far east as Jamaica. The The storm crossed theFlorida peninsula duringthe Caribbean wave had been investigated daily by aircraft 18th, passing intothe Atlantic near Fort Pierce. Gales reconnaissance and, sincedevelopment was thought were reported over extreme southern Floridawith gusts of possible when the, two disturbances eventually merged in 48 kt. at Miami.Within a few hoursafter the storm thesouth-central Gulf, arrangements were madefor passed out to sea, anew centcr apparently developed just aircraft reconnaissance in the area the following day. northeast’ of Great Ahaco Island in the Bahamas andbegan At both 1300 EST and 1900 EST on the 16th,all reporting to intensify, reaching hurricaneforce by thenext’ morning. stations within 500 miles of the disturbed area reported Again the strongest winds first’appeared on the south side 24-hour rises insurface pressure. However, surface of the center but gradually extended completely around report’s at 0700 EST on the 17th, as well as aircraft recon- t’he storm. naissance duringthe forenoon, indicated a complete During the period of tropical storm and hurricane in- circulation.Gale warnings were issued for theFlorida tensity, Judith moved in good agreement with the500-mb. Gulf coast south of Cedar Keys at 1600 EST as gradual steering. In the hightroposphere (ZOO mb.) winds were intensification occurred during the day. westerlyin a relatively cold trough as the wave moved In t8he afternoon, shortlybefore departing for home base, across the eastern and central Caribbean and no intensi- the aircraft reported a new center apparently developing ficationoccurred. The troughnarrowed and began to some 150 miles northeast of the old cent’er,with 45-kt. fracture during the night of the 14th and a high pressure surface winds. At 1700 EST, t>heMV Italsole encountered pattern dcvelopcdover theeastern Caribbean. As the a small vort’ex at 24.5’ N., 83.7’ W. with the barometer wave passed under a band of southerly winds bet’ween the falling rapidlyfrom 1008.5 to 999.3 mb.,and the wind trough and the Highsome irlterlsificat’iontook place, which increasing t’o 43 kt.The wind shiftedgradually from ended as the surfaceLowpassed under the high-troposphere east-southeast to southwest in 30 minut-es. The baromet’er Low.Redevelopmerlt began asthe surface disturbance then began rising steadily. An hour or two later another passcd under t’he high-level ridge in the extremesouth- ship in the same area reported winds of hurricane force. eastern Gulf. So explanation is available for Judith’s loss With fairly rapid intensification indicated by these ships of intensity in thc 6- to 8-hour period prior to landfall on and by aircraft and with direction of movement in doubt, the Floridawest coast’. Re-intensification over the At- hurricane warnings were issued at 2030 EST for the Florida lantic tookplace under west-southwesterlywinds of Gulf coast from Punta Gorda to Cedar Keys. around 45 kt. at 200 mb. The observer at Dry Tortugas, some 70 miles west of REFERENCES Key West, reports as follows: I. C. M.Woffinden, “The Weather and Circulatior~of Mag 1959,” Late in the afternoon, Cuban fishing boats in the> area came to illonthly Weather Review, vol. 87, No. 5, May 1959, pp. 196-205. Dry Tortugas harbor area to avoid rough water. Just before dark 2. R.. A. Grwn, “TheWeather and Circulation of June 1959,” the wind began to pick up, and in about5 rninut,es the wiild increased Alonthly Weather Review, vu!. 87, No. 6, June 1959, pp. 231-238. from about10 1n.p.h. to about 50 m.p.h. andthe ocvan became 3. 1:. hl. Ballenaweig, “Relation of Long-PeriodCirculation extremely rough. The high winds (about, 50-55 n1.p.h.) continued, Anornalies to Tropical Storm Formation and Motion,” Journal developing waves of nearly 10 feet.The wind shifted from east of Meteorology, vol. 16, No. 2, Apr. 1959, pp. 121-139. to south and blew allnight at about 50-55 m.p.h., although tllc 4. C. R. I)rlnn, “TheWmthc>r and Circulation of July 1959,” rain did not get above a heavy drizzle. dlonth(y Weather Review, vol. 87, No. 7, July 1959, pp. 275-282. Neither the LIiami WBO radar (the new WSR-57) nor 5. L. P. Stark,“The Weather and Circulation of August1959,” the reconnaissance aircraft radar could pick up any wall Jlonfhly Weather Review,vol. 87, KO.8, Aug. 1959, pp. 312-318. cloud around the eye during t’he night and thusit was dif- 6. 11. 11. Fletcher,“Computation of MaximumSurface Winds in Hurricanes,” Bulletin of the AmericanMefeorological Society, ficult to track the storm center. With time, the weather vel. 36, No. 6, June 1955, pp. 317-250. bands observed on radar appeared to lose intensity as well 7. I). L. Harris,“Hurricanc Gracie Storm Surge,” Climafological as much of their spiral character. These radar observa- Data, AV:cltional Sunan~ary,September 1959.

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