Hurricane Carla 1961

Men and Women:

This storm is going to be a bad a$$. The hurricane center has put Rita on the same path as Carla in 1961 and also predicts Rita to continue to gain strength and eventually turn into a category 5. It is supposed to be a cat 4 by sometime today.

Carla was the worst storm to hit Texas since the no name storm in 1900. Carla also had hurricane force winds as far north and west as Dallas and Abilene. I know this because I was here. Our area had about a foot of rain and winds in excess of 75 mph.

Rita is supposed to make landfall Friday evening between Matagorda and Galveston. This will mean Saturday could possibly be the toughest storm day we've seen since 1961. As you all know, hurricanes spawn tornados, hail, high winds, and a ton of rain.

My priorities are looking like staying home and battening down the hatches so that my family and home can ride this one out safely.

Clovis and gang, I hope you are paying particular attention to this bad girl.

Saturday might not be the best day to play.


Best Regards,

60N5.5


P.S More info on Carla Interesting article

 

Whoa... I did not know that (about the tornadoes and hail and stuff).

Was that up HERE that got the foot of rain etc etc?

I was assuming that we'd get a few enjoyable thunderstorms and nothing more this far north - but if it could be more serious than that, maybe I should prep a little.

What would you recommend doing to prepare?

Luckily my S and my X both live in the garage.

 

The weather.unisys.com site has some more information - says that Carla had 30 to 40 mph winds when going through the DFW area.

http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/...961/index.html

Some reading about hurricanes and tornados:
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/tcfaqL.html

Interesting trivia: A tornado spawned by hurricane Allen in 1980 caused $100 million damage in Austin.

 

Elistan,

Good info! My research was at about midnight and it brought back memories of Carla.

You are correct based on our longitude and latitude that we received tropical storm winds. However, I was almost nine years old at the time and clearly remember tornado watches, warnings, and having to get in the bath tub (which at the time, was supposed to be the safest place in the house). All I was saying last night is that a 100 mile drive to go play with potential nasty weather coming in might be a bad idea.

Kaiser,

It rained like a mother @#@#%. Flood control wasn't as good in those days and besides, Allen, Plano, McKinney (north of 635) are on high ground for the most part. Dallas did get some flooding in 1961.

Also, tropical storm winds that are sustained at 40 mph. can gust to 60 or more.

60N5.5

 

Hey guys, things look quiet until Sunday according to this: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_a...html?5day?large

It appears this storm will make coastal landfall Saturday AM and will NOT reach DFW/Mineral Wells until Sunday AM. We will keep a close watch on this.

If it appears there is any chance of danger I will e-mail everyone on the registered list Thursday night to call the event.

As of now the event is still on. Stay tuned....

David

 

I agree with Clovis...when my wife and I lived in Florida when went through several stron tropical storms/Cat 1 hurricanes and they are not horrible. The worst part we could face is the hail and possible tornadoes. Just be smart in what you do, and if you have functioning shutters on your home make sure they are anchored either open or closed.

It has been quite intersting to me to see how the weather people react to this weather here in metroplex. In Miami we all knew about a storm for a couple of weeks (thanks to the storm flow), but nothing big was made of it until about 72 hours prior to land fall.


Just be smart...don't panic...and park your car inside

 

Remember that this map is a probability for position of the eye, not storm coverage. The storm is currently several hundred miles wide. When the eye is at the coast the clouds could be here.

http://www.goes.noaa.gov/GIFS/GULFVS.JPG

All we can do is monitor. The satellite image will not update, but satellite image links are to the left on the strike probability chart.

 

If anybody has an extra garage spot or two in the Plano(ish) area and would be willing to let me borrow one or two over the weekend I would *greatly* appreciate it... PM me if you can help me out.

(Worth a shot)
-Doug

 

If you can't get your car under cover and are worried about hail, here is a handy trick a friend told me about years ago:

Cover it with blankets - sleeping bags etc and then tightly wrap it with a tarp (tight and secure enough that it won't flap around). That should prevent most hail damage.

 

Well I have enough space in my garage for the S, but I'm still worried about my Escape, and (less) worried about my Ranger (anybody wanna buy a 2000 Ford Ranger?)