| Tropical storm (SSHS) | |
|---|---|
| Felice over northern Texas. | |
| Formed | September 12, 1970 |
| Dissipated | September 17, 1970 |
| Highest winds | 1-minute sustained: 70 mph (110 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 997 mbar (hPa; 29.44 inHg) |
| Areas affected | Bahamas, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Central United States |
| Part of the 1970 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Tropical Storm Felice was a mid-September tropical storm that formed during the 1970 Atlantic hurricane season. The seventh tropical cyclone of the 1970 season, Felice formed over the Bahamas as a tropical depression on September 12 and crossed southern Florida where it reached tropical storm strength in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm traveled northwest peaking at 70 mph (110 km/h) where it made landfall near High Island, Texas. After landfall, Felice recurved and moved inland over central and northern Texas as a tropical depression before dissipating on September 17.
Tropical Storm Felice dropped heavy rainfall across southern Florida, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. The resulting rainfall caused minor flood damage and there were no fatalities or injuries as a result of Felice's impact on the United States.
Contents |
An upper level low persisted over the Bahamas where it became a tropical depression on September 12.[1][2] The depression drifted southwestward bypassing southern Florida and the Florida Keys.[1] Initially, the depression was not forecast to strengthened rapidly into a tropical storm due to unfavorable conditions around it.[3] The tropical depression then turned northwestward where it slowly reached tropical storm strength on September 14 and was named Felice by the National Hurricane Center.[1]
The following day, the winds of Felice increased to 55 mph (90 km/h) as the center of the storm was located 300 miles (480 km) southeast of Louisiana. The winds of Felice extended for 100 miles (160 km) to the north of the center as the storm continued on its west-northwest track at speeds of 14-15 mph (23–24 km/h).[4] Because Felice was a poorly organized tropical storm in its early stages, forecasters had a difficult time to track its movement. Initially, forecasters thought that a new center had formed north of the previous track based on data from a radar station in New Orleans, however that claim was rejected because of technical problems and the poor organization of the storm.[1]
As Felice continued moving northwest, meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center initially forecast the storm to reach hurricane strength in the next 24 hours.[5] However, strengthening was slow since the storm was still poorly organized. Despite this, Felice's winds continue to strengthen to 60 mph (97 km/h) as the storm continued to move west-northwest at 18 mph (29 km/h)[6] as the storm moved 130 miles south of New Orleans, Louisiana.[7] Felice's winds peaked at 70 mph and the pressure fell to 997 millibars[2] as the storm made landfall near High Island.[1] After making landfall, Felice turned northward and crossed northern Texas and drifted over southeastern Oklahoma where radars at the Storm Prediction Center (then known as the National Severe Storms Laboratory) in Norman, Oklahoma depicted the dying storm having an eye-like structure.[8] Felice then dissipated on September 17 as result of cooler air entering the storm.[1]
The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch extending from Morgan City, Louisiana to Galveston, Texas. Residents living along the Texas coastline were advised to take precautions and boats and small water craft were advised to remain in port.[4] Meteorologists also forecast the storm to bring gusty winds to the Mississippi coastline. In Jefferson County, Texas, officials urged residents to evacuate early if the storm intensifies fearing that last minute evacuation would make Highway 59 impassable because an alternate evacuation route was closed due to fire resulting from a collision between a boat and barge two days earlier.[5][9] In Sabine Pass, the approach of the storm forced the evacuation of 1,200 residents living in low lying areas.[6] In Cameron, Louisiana, 3,000 residents evacuated.[10]
Felice affected the Bahamas and southern Florida as a tropical depression.[11] In Florida, the effects from Felice was limited to heavy rainfall[3] with 3 inches (76.2 mm) reported near Miami and the southeastern part of the state.[12] In Louisiana, tides 3.9 ft (1.2 meters) were reported near Cameron.[13] The storm also produced moderate to heavy rainfall across southeastern and western Louisiana[12] In Grand Chenier, Louisiana, a weather station reported sustained winds of 26 mph (42 km/h) with gusts up to 42 mph (68 km/h).[14]
In Texas, Felice brought high winds and heavy rains. In Galveston, a weather station reported a gust of 54 mph (87 km/h)[15] and rainfall peaking at 6.73 inches (152.4 mm).[12] The heavy rainfall caused minor flooding and lightning from the storm damaged a transformer leaving residents in the eastern part of Galveston without power. Wind damage in the city was limited to trees one of which damaged a parked car.[15] Offshore, the storm brought a storm tide of 2 feet (0.7 meters) above normal.[15] Elsewhere in Texas the storm brought heavy rainfall[12] In Houston, the storm brought winds of 30 mph (48 km/h) with gusts up to 46 mph (74 km/h) and rainfall of 1.97 inches (50.8 mm).[16] Inland, the heavy rainfall from the storm caused minimal damage to rice crops.[17] In Oklahoma, dropped heavy rainfall across southeastern portions of the state and as the remnants of the storm passed through the Central United States, it dropped rainfall up to 3 inches (76.2 mm) over northeastern Arkansas.[12]
