An Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter performed heroically tonight in flying into tightly wound and radpily intensifying Hurricane Felix. Finding themselves in extreme turbulence and having their plane battered by graupel, or ice pellets…the crew still was able to ascertain that Felix was a category five hurricane. They found flight level winds of 157 mph. Using their specialized gear they found a surface wind of 163 mph in the southwest quadrant. They actually found a 187 mph surface wind in the northeast quadrant, but the data may have been contaminated by the graupel.
Here is their historic report…
000
URNT12 KWBC 022347
VORTEX DATA MESSAGE
A. 2/2307Z
B. 13 DEG 40 MIN N
72 DEG 43 MIN W
C. 700 MB 2601 M
D. 163 KT
E. 045 DEG 12 NM
F. 142 DEG 152 KT
G. 056 DEG 12 NM
H. 936 MB
I. 25 C/2745 M
J. 26 C/2806 M
K. 4 C/NA
L. CLOSED WALL
M. C15
N. 12345/7
O. 1/1 NM
P. NOAA2 0906A FELIX OB 10 AL062007
MAX FL WIND 152 KT NE QUAD 2252Z
LIGHTNING ALL QUADS
EXTREME TURBULENCE NE EYEWALL
SFMR WINDS 163 KTS NE EYEWALL
SLP FROM DROPSONDE
Anyway…it is a monster of a storm and it will likely threaten the top of all North Atlantic hurricanes in terms of intensity before this night is over.
There have been thirty one Category Five hurricanes in the Atlantic since 1851 according to my statistics. Here is a listing of them…
E STORM 1928 EVENTUALLY STRUCK FLORIDA AS CAT 4 STORM…KILLED 2000 PEOPLE AROUND LAKE OKEECHOBEE
D STORM 1932 PASSED EAST OF NASSAU IN THE BAHAMAS
C STORM 1935 LABOR DAY HURRICANE…STRUCK FLORIDA KEYS (1 OF ONLY 3 LANDFALLING US CAT 5 HURRICANES)
D STORM 1938 LONG ISLAND EXPRESS – STRUCK WITHOUT WARNING AS CAT 3 IN NEW ENGLAND
E STORM 1947 STRONGEST EAST OF BAHAMAS – EVENTUALLY STRUCK FORT LAUDERDALE
DOG 1950 HAD 185 MPH WINDS…BRUSHED LEEWARD ISLANDS
EASY 1951 NEVER HIT LAND…IT WAS STRONGEST OVER THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC
JANET 1955 CAUSED ONE OF FOUR ATLANTIC HURRICANE HUNTER LOSSES
CLEO 1958 ACHIEVED MAXIMUM STRENGTH OVE CENTRAL ATLANTIC
DONNA 1960 STRUCK FLORIDA KEYS…SW FLORIDA AND NEW ENGLAND AT LESS THAN CAT 5 INTENSITY
ETHEL 1960 DOUBTFUL CAT 5…RECON FOUND 140 KNOT WINDS OVER CENTRAL GULF BUT PRESSURE ONLY 972 MB…MINIMAL
HURRICANE AT BILOXI
HATTIE 1961 MOST INTENSE OVER WESTERN CARIBBEAN…KILLED 275 IN BRITISH HONDURAS
CARLA 1961 STRUCK NEAR PORT LAVACA TEXAS WHERE WINDS GUSTED TO 175 MPH
BEULAH 1967 WEAKENED A BIT BEFORE HITING BROWNSVILLE TEXAS…FAMOUS FOR LARGE NUMBER OF TORNADOES
CAMILLE 1969 ENOUGH SAID…
EDITH 1971 EVENTUALLY BRUSHED NORTH CAROLINA COAST
ANITA 1977 STRENGTHENED RAPIDLY OVER WESTERN GULF…STRUCK NORTHEASTERN MEXICAN COAST
DAVID 1979 PRECEDED HURRICANE FREDERIC…STRONGEST OVER EASTERN CARIBBEAN
ALLEN 1980 DODGED AND WEAVED THROUGH THE ISLANDS OF THE CARIBBEAN…EVENTUALLY STRUCK SOUTH TEXAS AS A CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE
GILBERT 1988 FORMER RECORD HOLDER FOR LOWEST PRESSURE EVER MEASURED IN ATLANTIC…MEASURED IN WESTERN CARIBBEAN
HUGO 1989 STRUCK SOUTH CAROLINA AS A CATEGORY FOUR
ANDREW 1992 UPGRADED TO CATEGORY FIVE STATUS TEN YEARS LATER BASED ON NEW INFORMATION
MITCH 1998 CAUSED DEVASTATING FLOODS IN HONDURAS/NICARAGUA
ISABEL 2003 “THE CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE WITH CATEGORY FIVE WAVES” SAID RESIDENTS OF NORTH CAROLINA’S OUTER BANKS
IVAN 2004 BRIAN PETERS WAS THERE IN THE AIR WHEN IT BECAME A FIVE
EMILY 2005 STRUCK THE YUCATAN
KATRINA 2005 STILL TRYING TO FORGET ABoUT IT
RITA 2005 UNPRECEDENTED THIRD CAT 5 IN ONE YEAR, THEN CAME…
WILMA 2005 STRONGEST ATLANTIC HURRICANE EVER
DEAN 2007 COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE
FELIX 2007 GO AWAY…
