PSUBlizzicane2007 Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 For me, it's a tie between Hurricane Erin in 1995 and Hurricane Danny in 1997. Hurricane Erin because it was the first hurricane I ever experienced, and I actually was able to stand out in the eye in it. Hurricane Danny because it actually managed to completely empty Mobile Bay (!), and there were quite a few people out walking in the bay looking for treasures, etc. What say you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eskimo Joe Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Hurricane Floyd when it came through Philadelphia. It was the first and only time we got out of school because of rain. By the time I got back home our basement was inundated, so my dad and I went out for two sump pumps. While at the store, I looked at the Manayunk Canal and noticed it had overflowed and was flashing into the Schuylkill River. It had also moved a box car on a siding out of the warehouse and was slowly pushing it down the rail road track, you could head the rail car creaking and groaning, quite eerie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LithiaWx Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Nice story! I only have one experience and it was in 1995 during Hurricane Opal. I was living in Atlanta and the storm once it hit the gulf coast it came racing north. There were inland Hurricane and tropical storm warnings all over the place. Well what I did not expect was the sustained 60+ MPH winds that went on for hours. It was absolutely incredible, what was left of Opal's eye came very close to my location. I ended up getting the NE quadrant of the storm. pretty much directly over my location in the NW burbs of Atlanta. I remember being afraid to go to sleep that night, worrying about possible trees coming down. It looked like a bomb had gone off when we got up the next morning. I'll never forget walking down my street in pure amazement at all the trees down and how literally everything was covered with some form of tree branch or leaf. It was very intense and something I'll never forget. We were out of school for nearly a week after while the cleanup went on. I live in Marietta lol, ground zero for Opal in Georgia. http://en.wikipedia..../Hurricane_Opal The peak wind gust in Georgia was a 79-mph (127 km/h) gust in Marietta, The peak rainfall in Georgia was 8.66 inches (220 mm) in Marietta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxmx Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 So you think Floyd and Opal were unremarkable? Interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Lizard Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Belle was my first, and was my first exposure to cable TV when we evacuated to my Dad's co-worker's place in North Massapequa. No need to evacuate, no surge at all. Some willows down, some of which kept living uprooted. I was in the pre-Danncy MCS when it came through Lafayette. Much lightning. Rob Perillo, local TV met, was talking about models suggesting tropical development. Ike was a Cat 2, and only Cat 1 per maps IMBY, but that was so loud, and a lot of local roof and tree damage, I don't think I want to see anything more than a Cat 1... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSUBlizzicane2007 Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 So you think Floyd and Opal were unremarkable? Interesting. Yeah, by unremarkable I kind of mean storms that, for the vast majority of people, are difficult to remember. Opal was very very memorable for me, but also remarkable IMO since its rapid deepening in the GOM set off a flurry of research, and it was really the "first" of the current AMO cycle to undergo that...not to mention the major impact on Pensacola Beach. Floyd was extremely remarkable for its flooding.... though I suppose for those particular locations listed it would seem unremarkable since those aren't the first places thought of with those two storms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LithiaWx Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 So you think Floyd and Opal were unremarkable? Interesting. Whoops, missed the unremarkable part....lol my bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Lizard Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Imagine if Opal hadn't weakened back a bit before landfall... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Imagine if Opal hadn't weakened back a bit before landfall... I always wondered that. I lived close to Montgomery back then and we had solid Cat 1 winds for hours in the middle of the night. I was scared to death as a 7-year-old. It still remains my worst hurricane(Ivan was similar, however it came through during the day and I was much more aware of it). The whole neighborhood was a pile of trees and powerlines, it was like nothing I've ever seen since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k*** Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Hurricane Gordon (1994)--Hugo, Bob, and Andrew were my big 3 as a child...the stuff that got me interested in TC's in the first place. Gordon taught me about late season storms and crazy storm tracks...that's what really hooked me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supercane Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Hurricane Fran 1996 -- first (and so far only) time I experienced the eyewall of a hurricane Tropical Storm Alex 1998 -- first Atlantic tropical storm I tracked...wishcast it to NC but it died on my birthday and made me sad (keep in mind I was turning 9 lol) Hurricane Alex 2004 -- made a surprisingly strong NC hit on my birthday, thus making up for my weenie letdown 6 years before Tropical Storm Alberto 2006 -- dumped a record of over 7 inches of rain here (most of it in just 6 hours), and caused a big roof leak in my house Tropical Storm Olga 2007 -- offseason storm I predicted a month in advance Tropical Storm Cristobal 2008 -- first (and so far only) time I experienced tropical system rainbands while on the beach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Lizard Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Frances 1998, in Houston for a job interview. Heavy rain and probably a steady ~30 knot wind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juliancolton Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Kyle 02, first storm (edit: TC) I really tracked because I was amazed at how long it lasted and how it kind of just meandered around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil882 Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Hurricane Gordon (1994)--Hugo, Bob, and Andrew were my big 3 as a child...the stuff that got me interested in TC's in the first place. Gordon taught me about late season storms and crazy storm tracks...that's what really hooked me. Luis (1995) and the rest of that active hurricane season were what got me hooked. I was super young at the time (1st grade) and I was scared one of the storms would affect me in Greenville, SC. I lacked the knowledge at the time that I was far too inland to be worried about a significant TC impact outside of heavy rainfall. Still, it was my initial fear that spurred me into recording the tropical segments of first my local news, and then the tropical update segments of The Weather Channel when we got cable in 1998. I hope soon I'll be able to transfer all my VHS tapes into YouTube videos, as I have a pretty huge collection that lasts up to 2004. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gymengineer Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Yeah, by unremarkable I kind of mean storms that, for the vast majority of people, are difficult to remember. Any hurricane that got retired probably does not belong in this thread.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalicwx366 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Fay 2008 is the only storm I can remember being in while living in Georgia. It was fun to track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BethesdaWX Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 For me it was TS Fay, not the strongest storm I experienced, (Charley), but the most enjoyable one since I could enjoy it without worrying about dying. I was spending the summer in an oceanfront beachouse on saint simons island GA...insane experience. NE winds started blowing stiff 2 days before it hit, had a squall that afternoon, and the pounding surf started immediately after it hit, which was just weird. I look out the window during the downpour and the surf is avg, 30 min later I had 8 foot breakers slamming the crud out of the Getty. I immediately grabbed the surfboard, and rode those suckers in the howling wind until dusk. Sometime around 3AM I was awoken by heavy winds. Winds got worse throughout the following day and a hurricane watch was issued (downgraded to TS warning). The storm slammed full force in evening, rocks from the Getty were actually moved, some were broken, waves more than 15ft high at times along with a surge pushed by 65mph sustained winds flooded much of the island. Some gusts were certainly at or above hurricane force, the oldest cottage had two windows blown in, although I didn't see many trees down, and I kept power somehow which would be impossible with pepco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floydbuster Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Hurricane Debby, August 2000. First storm I ever really "tracked". Started as it came through just north of the islands as a minimal hurricane and I remember John Hope on TWC (in the good old days of TWC) concerned that Debby would be a monster by the time it got to Southeast Florida. Tropical Storm Barry, August 2001. I remember jumping out of my skin excited at the prospect of tracking a possible 65 kt hurricane. Little did I know just four years later we would have multiple storms 100 mph stronger than Barry. Tropical Storm Chantal, August 2001. I received a brand new Weather Channel dry-erase tracking chart, which ended up getting peed on by my younger sister. She was 10 and her and a friend were playing a board game in my room and going crazy laughing and goofing around while sitting on my map. My sister literally peed her pants and it soaked through onto my map. No joke. Tropical Storm Gabrielle, September 2001. I woke up at 5am Friday, September 14th and turned on the news with the continuing coverage of the attacks. Then I flipped to The Weather Channel to see Mike Seidel in Fort Myers, Florida with huge storm surges rolling in as Gabrielle suddenly had blown up to just below hurricane strength and was speeding faster towards the coast. Later that day in school we watched the National Cathedral Prayer Service then saw President Bush's infamous bullhorn speech from Ground Zero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WxFreak11 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Hurricane Donna in 1960. I was 7 years old living in Providence RI and it was my first experience in a hurricane. I just remember the wind knocking over some trees and power lines, losing electricity and having candles lit everywhere. I think it was only a Cat 1 when it hit New England but it seemed so awesome to me as a child. Later my dad took me and my sister out for a walk to see the damage, which wasn't such a good idea as there were power lines down everywhere, but it was this storm that started my fascination of weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akeem the African Dream Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Tropical Storm Gabrielle in 2001. I rescued a young puppy in the middle of the night driving home from work. Ten years later I still have him and we are best friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamarack Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 1. TS Doria, August 1917. I woke up about 3 AM at the height of the storm (in NNJ), sheets of rain at 50+ mph, and saw my 5" capacity gauge was nearly full, so I stepped out on the balcony to empty it - instant soak, even though I'd slipped a poncho on. This and subsequent events have a modest possibility of being related to our son's birth 280 days later. 2. Remains of Belle, August 1976. No wind to speak of and the 6" rainfall would be just another rainy day on the Gulf Coast, but in N.Maine it was disastrous (and having CAR put our area under a hurricane watch was not wx I'd have expected up there.) Most of the 6" fell 6-10 PM on 8/10, but we only became aware of just how torrential it was when we saw the blue lights flashing outside our 2nd/3rd floor apt. Water was streaming down the highway (Rt 161, a.k.a. West Main St) about 18" deep, and was also washing out the parking lot and foundation of the next door apt building. We diverted most of the flow to between the apts where it didn't threaten the underpinnings, even though it cut a trench 8' deep and 12' wide. Next morning the back yard was all gravel and rocks, plus railroad ties and a car hood from wherever, and looked like a dry riverbottom. I was unable to get to my office, 2 miles west of downtown Ft. Kent, because a culvert had washed out leaving a trench 5' wide and 8' deep across Rt 161, in which a town dumptruck had gotten caught - must've collapsed under the rear axles, as they were in the trench and the front wheels about 3' off the ground. There was a blowout at Thibodeau Brook in St. Francis, taking 150' of Rt 161, so that folks to the west were cut off for 3 days, unless they wished to take 50 miles of woods roads to Canada. In the 250,000 acres of forest managed out of our office, about half the woods road bridges were destroyed, many with the decks carried far downstream. A lot of woodsmen got an unexpected (and unpaid) vacation, as they couldn't access their jobsites for a week or more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaWx Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I think it was only a Cat 1 when it hit New England but it seemed so awesome to me as a child. I think that among a lot of weenies (I'm not saying you're one) there is a big misconception that cat 1's are no big deal. I don't think that could be further from the truth. A hurricane hit is typically a big deal wherever it hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scudric Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Tropical Storm (Hurricane) Gaston - Richmond 2004. The day started out with a forecast for some rain with the remnants until over a foot of rain fell in under 12 hours. Water tables rose quickly until hydraulic pressure caused small geysers in the cracks of basement floors. Shockoe Bottom (a low lying area of downtown) had over 10' of fast flowing water that piled up cars...even pushed a tractor trailer full of potatoes into a building collapsing it. Roadways and hillsides collapsed, I-95 had several feet of water and I believe 8 or 9 people died locally. A friend of mine put his cat in the basement since he wouldn't go outside to do his business. He checked on him a few hours later and he was sitting on the washing machine bobbing up and down in four feet of water....not a happy cat. The coolest thing was that it eroded the soil around a bunch of small rocks (1/2" to 1") in my yard to where they stood like a forest of little caps on 4" tall spires of clay. It was a TS until reclassified later by NHC as a Cat.1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalicwx366 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Tropical storm Doria August 1917? Lmao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gakmsg Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Allison Remnants - June 2001 - 11 inches of localized rain in 4 hours - SE PA. Fort Washington Office Park flooding. Wiped out many businesses that never can back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sctvman Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Gaston in August of 2004. We lost power for 72 hours, longer than any other time before since Floyd in '99. Just came out of nowhere on a Friday afternoon. Was watching Weather Channel and saw the storm come out of nowhere. By late Saturday night, it was there. Worst storm we've had in the Lowcountry since then. Almost hurricane force winds, thousands lost power. Unremarkable storms here? Ernesto, 2006. Did heavy damage and flooding in NC and VA, but in the Charleston area, basically just a rainy day, like two trees went down. Lost school for the day though, had to make it up right before Thanksgiving. Tammy, 2005: Lost our glass table in the storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msp Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 TS Hermine, 2010 first TC i was in; dumped 3" of rain; triggered a tornado warning for campus, causing class to be interrupted and everyone evacuated to a basement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LithiaWx Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Tropical storm Doria August 1917? Lmao obviously a typo. It was 1971. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamarack Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Tropical storm Doria August 1917? Lmao And I read through it again before posting. At least I didn't interpose the 1st 2 digits and put it 7,000 yr in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion_NC_WX Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 This may be going off-topic but the remains of Frances (2004) produced one of the biggest flooding events in the Southern Appalachian's history...yet this didn't receive any attention on a national level due to the media's love affair with the state of Florida. Asheville North Carolina was shut down for about 3 days due to the Swanannoa and the French Broad River's record water levels. The Catawba River Basin had it's 2nd highest level's which was equal to some great floods in the 1970's. Widespread 8-10 rainfall amounts fell across Western North Carolina with the highest totals over 20 inches falling along the eastern escarpment... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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