Weather Quiz

Source: NOAA

As a Category 4 hurricane, Harvey was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in Texas since?

A.  Carla

B.  Bret

C.  Ike

D.  Alicia

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Answer to August 10 Weather Quiz question.

True.  No hurricane had made landfall in the United States since Wilma in October 2005.  That is until Hurricane Harvey last week.

Some Perspective on August 2017

The wetter than average summer in the Nation’s Capital continued during August, which will finish cooler and wetter than average.  This is the third cooler than average August in the last five years.  However, it’s only DC’s third wetter than average August in the last 10 years. 

The hottest temperature Washingtonians experienced this month occurred on August 22 (92°) while the coolest temperature this month was 62° on August 30.  The low temperature of 62° was the coolest temperature in the Nation’s Capital since June 28 (61°).  By comparison, Washington, D.C.’s average high and low temperatures on August 31 are 84°/68°.

This August’s cooler than average weather is in stark contrast to last August, which was the second hottest on record in Washington, D.C.  August 2016 had 23 days at 90°/+ (including three days of 100° heat), while there have been only 9 days at 90°/+ this month.  Last August’s average temperature (combining daily high and low temperatures) was 82.7° compared to this month’s average temperature (through August 30) of 77.4° (below August’s average monthly temperature of 78.1°).

There has been 4.58” of rain this month with the bulk of that occurring on August 7 (1.47”) and August 29 (0.98”).  Three of the last four months have been wetter than average in the Nation’s Capital.  That’s paid dividends in offsetting much of the rainfall deficit that Washington, D.C. incurred during a very dry period from August 1, 2015 through April 30, 2017. 

In fact, Washington, D.C. has a rainfall surplus of 4.51” since the start of meteorological summer on June 1 and a rainfall surplus of 3.34” since January 1.  A large portion of that rainfall surplus came last month in what was DC’s wettest July (9.15”) since 1969.  Unlike past summers, Washingtonians haven’t experienced any rainfall from current or former tropical systems.  However, that is poised to change as the remnants of Hurricane Harvey are expected to bring the Mid-Atlantic Region some rain tomorrow night and Saturday.

Hurricane Harvey's Catastrophic Impacts

Intensifying Hurricane Harvey nearing the TX Coast   (Source: NASA)

Since making landfall Friday night, August 25, Hurricane Harvey is one of the most damaging hurricanes on record.  It’s causing extreme and unprecedented flooding in the state of Texas.  Its effects will be far reaching, though, from Texas and Louisiana northward.  Check out this article I wrote for the WUSA9 website for more details.

As Harvey Approaches, Remember the Lessons from Andrew

Hurricane Andrew bearing down on the Bahamas (Source: NOAA)

It’s been 25 years since Hurricane Andrew became one of the most infamous hurricanes in U.S. history.  Andrew remains only the third Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States, joining the unnamed 1935 Labor Day hurricane that decimated the Florida Keys and Hurricane Camille in 1969.  Andrew was the only major hurricane in a quiet 1992 season, illustrating how it doesn’t have to be an active season to be a damaging and deadly one.

Andrew intensified into a Category 5 hurricane with peak sustained winds of 175 mph when it passed through the Bahamas.  Andrew had sustained winds of 165 mph and a minimum central pressure of 922 millibars (mb) when it came ashore in Florida on August 24, 1992.  Standard sea level air pressure is 1013.25 mb, demonstrating just how low Andrew’s air pressure was.  It was the first major hurricane (Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale) to make landfall in the state of Florida since Eloise in 1975. 

The 1970s and 1980s were a relatively quiet period in the tropical Atlantic compared to previous decades.  That coincided with a false sense of security among residents and developers along coastal areas from Texas all the way up to Maine.  Florida, in particular, experienced a high degree of population growth and coastal development during this period.  Sometimes, existing building codes that were in place to protect against hurricane damage were disregarded.  The existing codes were later found to be largely inadequate.  These factors contributed to the extreme and widespread damage that Andrew caused in southern Florida.  Following this catastrophe, building codes were modernized and have been more strictly enforced. 

Hurricane Andrew became the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history with $26.5 billion.  The cost could have been significantly higher had the track been slightly different.  Andrew was also a relatively compact hurricane with its strongest winds concentrated in a relatively limited area.  Andrew’s eye traveled roughly 30 miles south of downtown Miami, which largely spared the city.

If another storm of Hurricane Andrew’s intensity were to threaten an urban area such as Miami or New Orleans nowadays, then the potential for damage and loss of life could rival Katrina (2005) or Sandy (2012).  That’s why following strict building codes and listening to your authorities if they call for evacuation is critically important.  Education and preparation should be Hurricane Andrew’s lasting legacy. 

Currently, Hurricane Harvey is in the Gulf of Mexico and could become the first hurricane to make landfall in Texas since Ike in 2008.  Harvey could also become the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005.