1957 Atlantic hurricane season

1957 Atlantic hurricane season
Season summary map
First storm formed June 8, 1957
Last storm dissipated October 26, 1957
Strongest storm Carrie – 945 mbar (27.91 inHg), 155 mph (250 km/h)
Total storms 8
Major storms (Cat. 3+) 2
Total damage $152.5 million (1957 USD)
$1.04 billion (2005 USD)
Total fatalities 513
Atlantic hurricane seasons
1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959

The 1957 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 15, 1957,[1] and lasted until November 15, 1957.[2] These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. The season was below average, with eight total storms and just three hurricanes forming. Three storms caused significant impact during the season. Hurricane Audrey hit Cameron, Louisiana as a Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, demolishing the town and killing four hundred. Tropical Storm Bertha became one of the wettest tropical cyclones in Arkansas history when over 10 inches (250 mm) fell across central portions of the state. Another significant storm was Hurricane Carrie, which killed 80 people when a German sailing ship sank near the Azores.

Contents

Storms


Tropical Storm One

Tropical storm (SSHS)
Duration June 8 – June 15
Intensity 65 mph (100 km/h) (1-min),  Unknown

Low pressures over the Gulf of Mexico gradually organized around an area of convection, and became a tropical depression on June 8. It raced northeastward, becoming a tropical storm later that day, and hitting the Florida coastline near Apalachee Bay on June 9. It remained weak until it reached the Atlantic, when it reached a peak of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h) winds before becoming extratropical on June 10.[3] Tropical Storm One caused $52,000 in flooding damage (1957 dollars) and five deaths from a capsized boat.

Hurricane Audrey

Category 4 hurricane (SSHS)
Duration June 25 – June 29
Intensity 145 mph (230 km/h) (1-min),  946 mbar (hPa)
Main article: Hurricane Audrey

Audrey formed over the Bay of Campeche on June 24, and slowly moved north across the Gulf of Mexico. It rapidly strengthened just before making landfall near Sabine Pass, Texas on June 27 as a 145 miles per hour (233 km/h) Category 4 hurricane. It continued north and became a powerful extratropical storm. Audrey was the strongest U.S. landfall in June, the strongest hurricane before July 1,[3] and caused the most deaths in a named U.S. hurricane (416) before 2005's Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf coast.[4] Audrey also caused $150 million in damage (1957 dollars), mostly from storm surge.

Tropical Storm Bertha

Tropical storm (SSHS)
Duration August 8 – August 11
Intensity 70 mph (110 km/h) (1-min),  998 mbar (hPa)

A weak extratropical low that entered the Gulf of Mexico on August 6 drifted west over the warm waters, becoming Tropical Storm Bertha on August 8. It moved northwestward toward the area that Hurricane Audrey devastated two months earlier, but only reached a peak of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) winds. While in the Gulf of Mexico, the cyclone sunk one oil drilling tender and drove another aground.[5] Bertha hit near Cameron, Louisiana on the 10th, and dissipated as a tropical cyclone the next day over Oklahoma. The remnant low then moved east-northeast, dropping significant rainfall amounts in Arkansas and Missouri. Damascus, Arkansas set a 24-hour rainfall record on August 11 when 11 inches (280 mm) was recorded.[6] The storm caused 2 deaths, but little damage from the beneficial rain the area needed.

Hurricane Carrie

Category 4 hurricane (SSHS)
Duration September 2 – September 24
Intensity 155 mph (250 km/h) (1-min),  945 mbar (hPa)

Hurricane Carrie developed from a tropical wave on September 2, just off the coast of Africa. Conditions were generally favorable for development, and the tropical depression steadily strengthened to its peak of 155 miles per hour (249 km/h) winds on September 8. Carrie turned northward, where a weaker pressure gradient weakened the storm to a minimal hurricane. It turned to the northwest, where it again strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane. Conditions again became unfavorable for intensification, likely from cooler waters and upper level shear, and Carrie weakened to a minimal hurricane just after passing within 100 miles (160 km) of Bermuda on September 16. A trough of low pressure turned Carrie eastward, where the hurricane maintained its strength until after it passed through the Azores. Though it became extratropical on September 23, it remained a powerful cyclone until dissipating on September 24 just southwest of Ireland.[3]

The main impact from Carrie was felt over the open Atlantic. On September 21, the German sailing ship Pamir, with 86 crewmen aboard, was caught in the storm while at Category 1 intensity near the Azores, rapidly sinking the ship. After a massive rescue effort, only six survivors were found. The shipwreck received international media attention as a result.

Tropical Storm Debbie

Tropical storm (SSHS)
Duration September 7 – September 9
Intensity 40 mph (65 km/h) (1-min),  Unknown

A tropical wave formed into a tropical storm on September 7 in the Gulf of Mexico. Debbie moved northeastward, remaining weak due to upper level shear and cold air to its north, and hit the Florida Panhandle on September 8. Heavy rainfall of over 5 inches (130 mm) fell across much of the Florida panhandle.[7] Debbie dissipated later that day, after causing four indirect casualties.

Tropical Storm Esther

Tropical storm (SSHS)
Duration September 16 – September 19
Intensity 50 mph (85 km/h) (1-min),  1000 mbar (hPa)

The precursor to Tropical Storm Esther was a weak cyclonic circulation that moved into the Gulf of Mexico, becoming a tropical depression on September 16. It moved north-northeastward, and became a tropical storm the next day. Esther remained a large tropical storm, with most of the convection to the east of the center, and only reached a peak of 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) winds before hitting southeastern Louisiana on September 18. The storm dissipated over northwestern Mississippi on September 19, after causing $1.5 million in damage (1957 dollars) and three fatalities from heavy flooding.

Hurricane Frieda

Category 1 hurricane (SSHS)
Duration September 20 – September 27
Intensity 90 mph (150 km/h) (1-min),  992 mbar (hPa)

The frontal trough that pushed Carrie eastward developed a frontal wave on September 20. It rapidly organized into a tropical depression that day, and after drifting to the southwest, became Tropical Storm Frieda on September 22. Conditions were generally favorable for continued development, with high divergence aloft and generally warm water temperatures. A new circulation developed to the northwest, and Frieda turned to the northeast in response to a shortwave trough. The storm reached a peak of 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) winds on September 25, and became extratropical on September 26.

Tropical Storm Eight

Tropical storm (SSHS)
Duration October 23 – October 27
Intensity 60 mph (95 km/h) (1-min),  993 mbar (hPa)

A cutoff low on an upper level trough developed on October 22. It became a tropical depression the next day, and reached tropical storm strength later that day. The storm was subtropical in nature, but it managed to reach a peak of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) winds before upper level winds weakened the system. Tropical Storm Eight became extratropical on October 27 northeast of Bermuda, and was absorbed by an extratropical storm later that day.

Storm names

The following names were used for named storms (tropical storms and hurricanes) that formed in the North Atlantic in 1957. Storms were named Audrey, Bertha, Carrie, Debbie, Esther and Frieda for the first time in 1957.

  • Audrey
  • Bertha
  • Carrie
  • Debbie
  • Esther
  • Frieda
  • Gracie (unused)
  • Hannah (unused)
  • Inga (unused)
  • Jessie (unused)
  • Kathie (unused)
  • Lisa (unused)
  • Margo (unused)
  • Netty (unused)
  • Odelle (unused)
  • Parry (unused)
  • Quinta (unused)
  • Roxie (unused)
  • Sandra (unused)
  • Theo (unused)
  • Undine (unused)
  • Venus (unused)
  • Wenda (unused)
  • Xmay (unused)
  • Yasmin (unused)
  • Zita (unused)

Retirement

See also: List of retired Atlantic hurricane names

The name Audrey would later be retired.

See also

References

  1. ^ Shell. Now Available... Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
  2. ^ Daily Gleaner. Bad News for 'Hurricane Hunters'. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
  3. ^ Hurricane Research Division (August 2011). "Atlantic hurricane best track (Hurdat)". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/tracks1851to2010_atl_reanal.html. Retrieved 2011-09-19. 
  4. ^ Eric S. Blake, Edward N. Rappaport, Christopher W. Landsea (2007-04-15). "The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Tropical Cyclones From 1851 to 2006". http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-TPC-5.pdf. Retrieved 2007-06-23. 
  5. ^ U. S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service (2004). "History of the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry in Southern Louisiana Interim Report: Volume I: Papers on the Evolving Offshore Industry". http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/regulate/environ/studies/2004/2004-049.pdf. Retrieved 2007-02-02. 
  6. ^ Forecaster 57 (2008-04-01). "Public Information Statement...Corrected: Record Rainfall in March in Much of Northern and Western Arkansas". National Weather Service Forecast Office, Little Rock, Arkansas. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lzk/?n=pns040108txt.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-08. 
  7. ^ David M. Roth (2010-03-08). "Tropical Storm Debbie — September 7–9, 1957". Hydrometeorological Prediction Center. http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/rain/debbie1957.html. Retrieved 2010-03-25. 

External links

Tropical cyclones of the 1957 Atlantic hurricane season
Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale
TD TS C1 C2 C3 C4 C5
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