Hurricane Celia

Infobox Hurricane
name=Hurricane Celia
Type=hurricane
Year=1970
Basin=Atl
Image location=Hurricane Celia at landfall.gif

Texas
Formed=July 31, 1970
Dissipated=August 5, 1970
1-min winds=110
Pressure=945
Da

Inflated=1
Fatalities=20 direct
Areas=western Cuba, Central Texas
Hurricane season=1970 Atlantic hurricane season|

Hurricane Celia was the third named tropical cyclone, the second hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 1970 Atlantic hurricane season. Celia began as a tropical wave which formed off the coast of Africa on July 23. The wave reached the eastern Caribbean on July 28 and began to become more organized. The low declared a tropical depression a few days later while slowly developing. The depression crossed over western Cuba late on July 31 causing five fatalities. Shortly after emerging into the Gulf of Mexico, the depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Celia. With warm Sea Surface Temperatures, Celia rapidly intensified into a major hurricane on the August 1. The intensification was temporary and Celia weakened to a minimal hurricane the next morning. As Celia moved towards the Texas coastline, it began to rapidly intensify again. The storm reached its peak as it made landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas as a strong Category Three hurricane late on August 3. Celia caused another 15 fatalities in Texas before dissipating inland the next day. Damages in Texas totaled to $400 million making Celia the costliest disaster in Texas history at the time.Cite web|author=NHC|title=Celia Preliminary Report One|year=1970|publisher=National Hurricane Center|accessdate=2008-07-10|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1970-prelim/celia/prelim01.gif] Cite web|author=NHC|title=Celia Preliminary Report Two|year=1970|publisher=National Hurricane Center|accessdate=2008-07-10|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1970-prelim/celia/prelim02.gif] Cite web|author=NHC|title=Celia Preliminary Report Three|year=1970|publisher=National Hurricane Center|accessdate=2008-07-10|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1970-prelim/celia/prelim03.gif] Cite web|author=NHC|title=Celia Preliminary Report Four|year=1970|publisher=National Hurricane Center|accessdate=2008-07-10|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1970-prelim/celia/prelim04.gif] Cite web|author=NHC|title=Celia Preliminary Report Four|year=1970|publisher=National Hurricane Center|accessdate=2008-07-10|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1970-prelim/celia/prelim05.gif] To date Celia is last major hurricane to strike the city of Corpus Christi, Texas directly.

Meteorological history

The precursor to Hurricane Celia was a tropical wave that moved off the African coast on July 23. The wave moved quickly at convert|20|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on to convert|25|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on with no development. The wave entered into the eastern Caribbean on July 28 and began to show signs of development. Pressures over the Southern United States were falling at that time, eroding the subtropical ridge. This allowed the storm to develop a closed circulation and the wave was declared a tropical disturbance on July 29. The disturbance was declared Tropical Depression Three the next day. Tropical Depression Three crossed over western Cuba that night. A reconnaissance flight found that the depression had a pressure of 1007 mbar at the time but they could not finish the mission due to the proximity to Cuba. The storm entered the Gulf of Mexico late on July 31 and began to feed off the warm waters. On the morning of August 1, a reconnaissance flight found winds of tropical storm intensity and the depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Celia.

Satellite loops of Celia showed that the storm was becoming more organized throughout the day. A reconnaissance mission in the afternoon confirmed the intensification and Celia was upgraded to a major hurricane with winds of convert|115|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on and a pressure of 965 mb. The rapid intensification was brief and Celia weakened to a category one the next morning. Celia moved in a steady west north-west motion since it entered the gulf and many reconnaissance missions were flown into the storm providing a lot of information, making the storm easy to forecast. This resulted in some of the lowest forecast errors at the time for the 12 and 24 hour vectors. They were convert|38.4|mi|km|abbr=on and convert|64|mi|km|abbr=on respectively compared to the long term mean of over convert|100|mi|km|abbr=on. As Celia neared the Texas coastline, another round of explosive deepening occurred. The pressure dropped 39 mbar in 15 hours and the winds increased to convert|125|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on, just short of category four.

The intensification was unexpected as conditions were not in favor of rapid development. After moving inland, Celia maintained tropical storm intensity for 30 hours before dissipating over western Texas on August 5. The slow dissipation was unusual since Celia was a relatively small storm. Small storms usually break apart after landfall but Celia maintained itself for more than a day. Celia was an unusual hurricane in that most of the damage was caused by sudden and severe wind gusts on the left side of the storm. Sustained winds were never higher than convert|120|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on to convert|130|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on but gusts locally reached convert|160|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on or more. The gusts were in streaks and only lasted for 15 minutes.

Impact

Celia caused 20 fatalities, 5 in Cuba and 15 in Texas, and left $453.8 million in damages.Cite web|author=NHC|title=1970 Hurricane Season summary|year=1970|publisher=National Hurricane Center|accessdate=2008-07-10|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1970-prelim/alma/prelim01.gif] Corpus Christi, Texas suffered the worst damage with at least 80% of all the structures in the city damaged and half of those damaged were severely damaged or destroyed.Cite web|author=NHC|title=Celia Preliminary Report Eight|year=1970|publisher=National Hurricane Center|accessdate=2008-07-10|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1970-prelim/celia/prelim08.gif]

Cuba

Tropical Depression Three dropped heavy rains over western Cuba causing major flooding. Four people drowned in the floods and another man was electrocuted in the floodwaters when he tried to retrieve a downed power line.

Texas

Celia left severe damage in southern Texas in its wake. Damages totaled to $453.8 million and 15 people were killed. 466 other were injured, mostly by glass shards from shattered windows.The worst damage was in Corpus Christi and Aransas Pass, Texas. 8950 homes were destroyed and over 60 thousand others were damaged costing over $250 million in. The most severe damage occurred in the streaks of damage. The streaks were not caused by a tornado as no evidence of rotation was found. The swaths of damage were caused by a series of microbursts and downbursts, most of which occurred in a 15 minute span. Survivors of the storm described the downbursts as suddenly rocket shells exploding. Cite web|author=NHC|title=Celia Preliminary Report Five|year=1970|publisher=National Hurricane Center|accessdate=2008-07-11|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1970-prelim/celia/prelim05.gif] However, areas between the streaks suffered surprisingly little damage, mainly ornamental due to debris from the homes nearby. Some of the worst damage was at a trailer camp where several hundred mobile homes were left in mangled ruins, some even stacked on top of each other. A newly constructed shopping center, which was thought to have the finest construction, was left completely destroyed. Damage to most of the structures was mainly roof damage. However, several homes suffered more severe damage or were destroyed. Some homes had their entire roof torn off, leaving only the fixed appliances.Cite web|author=NHC|title=Celia Preliminary Report Six|year=1970|publisher=National Hurricane Center|accessdate=2008-07-10|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1970-prelim/celia/prelim06.gif]

Celia dropped heavy rains as it made landfall. Due to the small size and fast movement of the storm, the rainfall was not widespread. At the time of landfall, much of Texas was suffering from a drought and the heavy rains were welcome. The heaviest rains fell in Corpus Christi where up to convert|7|in|mm|abbr=on inches fell. Most areas received convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on to convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on of rain.Cite web|author=NHC|title=Celia Preliminary Report Nine|year=1970|publisher=National Hurricane Center|accessdate=2008-07-11|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1970-prelim/celia/prelim09.gif]

Retirement

The name Celia was retired following this storm and replaced by Carmen in the 1974 Atlantic hurricane season. It will never again be used for an Atlantic hurricane, though it remains in use in the Pacific basin. Celia was the last atlantic hurricane to be retired and have a replacement name before the tropical cyclone naming lists changed in 1979.

ee also

*List of tropical cyclones
*List of Atlantic hurricanes
*1970 Atlantic hurricane season

References

External links

* [http://www.weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/1970/CELIA/track.gifStorm path]