Floydbuster Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 It was 7 years ago today that Hurricane Charley struck Cayo Costa, Florida with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, a high-end Category 4 Hurricane. Based on what I can see, other than Hurricanes '35, Camille and Andrew which were Category 5 storms in 1935, 1969 and 1992, the last hurricane to hit the United States with winds of atleast 130 kts was Hurricane Carla in 1961, although that may have actually been 125 kts. If that is the case, then you have to go back to the 1919 Hurricane's impact on the Florida Keys with 130 kt winds in the eyewall. Charley rapidly deepened from 95 kt to 130 kt in just a couple of hours as the small, well-defined eyewall contracted over the boiling August waters off Southwest Florida. The wind damage in areas of Captiva Island, Boca Grande, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and Arcadia is the worst seen since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Lizard Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Perhaps the best YouTube generating hurricane of all time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akeem the African Dream Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Charley was awesome. Brought SUSTAINED hurricane force winds as far inland as Orlando 4-5 hours after initial landfall. 77mph sustained with a gust to 105mph was recorded at MCO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkviking Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 A storm to worship, and indeed the YouTube videos, especially the gas station one, were remarkable. Wish iCyclone was there, but let's get him a Charley this year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorpion Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 If I was only a year older then I could have driven into that.. sigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floydbuster Posted August 13, 2011 Author Share Posted August 13, 2011 A storm to worship, and indeed the YouTube videos, especially the gas station one, were remarkable. Wish iCyclone was there, but let's get him a Charley this year! I have my doubts after September 15th. The ideal Cat 4-5 U.S. landfalls typically occur in August. Sometime, like Labor Day, 1926, 1928, Carla, Hugo...you can have a 120 kt+ U.S. landfall after September 10th but it seems rare. Then again, all Cat 4 and Cat 5 landfalls are rare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkviking Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 I have my doubts after September 15th. The ideal Cat 4-5 U.S. landfalls typically occur in August. Sometime, like Labor Day, 1926, 1928, Carla, Hugo...you can have a 120 kt+ U.S. landfall after September 10th but it seems rare. Then again, all Cat 4 and Cat 5 landfalls are rare. Good point, and fact is, Charley was a rarity. Remember following and admiring it--just a classic. I actually have more faith in a sloppy east coast hit this year due to projections (that appear to be developing correctly)by HM and others. I always look forward to Floydbuster video discussions so I hope you are getting ready, and not just for these reject systems that have been occupying the name field. Pray, pattern shift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 One thing that sticks out is how fast it intensified. I remember seeing the cat 4 advisory and initially thinking there was a mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkviking Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 One thing that sticks out is how fast it intensified. I remember seeing the cat 4 advisory and initially thinking there was a mistake. It was shocking. If not for the small size of the storm and fact it missed Tampa (huge surge issues there), this storm could've eclipsed Katrina, which had it's huge size and previous strength and bad levees making that one THE decade classic (no offense to forgotten Biloxi/Gulfport with the 29' storm surge) For pure artistry, Charley rules the 2000s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k*** Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 It was shocking. If not for the small size of the storm and fact it missed Tampa (huge surge issues there), this storm could've eclipsed Katrina, which had it's huge size and previous strength and bad levees making that one THE decade classic (no offense to forgotten Biloxi/Gulfport with the 29' storm surge) For pure artistry, Charley rules the 2000s which makes this part of the wikipedia TC portal so freaking annoying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Lizard Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Speaking of Charley, 12Z Euro at 240 hours seems to leave a path out of the Western Caribbean across Florida open for a developing 93L... Hmmm, on second viewing, that isn't 93L. My bad. I'd rather have a Texas rainmaker, but it seems South Florida is perfect for video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreatdr Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 If this were wikipedia, I'd respond {{sofixit}}. It's been fixed. which makes this part of the wikipedia TC portal so freaking annoying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HurricaneJosh Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 It was 7 years ago today that Hurricane Charley struck Cayo Costa, Florida with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, a high-end Category 4 Hurricane. Based on what I can see, other than Hurricanes '35, Camille and Andrew which were Category 5 storms in 1935, 1969 and 1992, the last hurricane to hit the United States with winds of atleast 130 kts was Hurricane Carla in 1961, although that may have actually been 125 kts. If that is the case, then you have to go back to the 1919 Hurricane's impact on the Florida Keys with 130 kt winds in the eyewall. Charley rapidly deepened from 95 kt to 130 kt in just a couple of hours as the small, well-defined eyewall contracted over the boiling August waters off Southwest Florida. The wind damage in areas of Captiva Island, Boca Grande, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and Arcadia is the worst seen since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Good post-- I agree that Charley is one of the real top storms in American history in terms of intensity. One thing: Carla did not have winds of 130 kt when it hit TX. The best-track database suggests 125 kt, but that hasn't been reanalyzed yet, and I personally believe even that is way too high. It definitely was not 130 kt. My estimate would be somewhere around 110-115 kt, although I'm still wrestling with it. A storm to worship, and indeed the YouTube videos, especially the gas station one, were remarkable. Wish iCyclone was there, but let's get him a Charley this year! Thanks, man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kab2791 Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Spectacular Tight Core Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akeem the African Dream Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Spectacular Tight Core Granted I am quite a bit inland but the core went right over my immediate area. You really had to be along the path of the core to really understand how potent and compact Charley was. Outside of some outer rainbands in the afternoon the whole storm really lasted under 2 hours. I remember going from no wind and rain at 7:45 to hurricane conditions at 9pm. Once the center passed overhead the significant weather ended less than 30 minutes later. Charley was such a quick hitter compared to Frances and Jeanne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnyFL Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 NWS Service Assessment on Charley http://www.weather.gov/os/assessments/pdfs/Charley06.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HurricaneJosh Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Spectacular Tight Core Seriously. It does not get better than that. Thanks for posting this awesome, hawt image. I've saved it in my special Grade-A porn folder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Lizard Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 A storm to worship, and indeed the YouTube videos, especially the gas station one, were remarkable. Wish iCyclone was there, but let's get him a Charley this year! -1 for spelling it 'Charlie"... But it is an awesome video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvPdQPnSstY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyewall2005 Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Amazing storm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CooL Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 My favorite hurricane of all time to track and watch unfold. I freaked out when i saw on the news it went from cat 2 to cat 4. Serious *hit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandymanColumbusGA Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Charley is forever ingrained in my memory! I grew up in Sarasota and had tropical storms to deal with every once in a while. Then Charley came.... That was the first time we ever boarded up and seriously considered evacuating, we live (my parents still live there) about 10 miles from Siesta Key. We decided to wait it out and wait until Friday morning, the 13th, as to whether we should go or not. The main player in that was my telling my parents that it would make landfall near Venice and it wouldn't be stronger than a Cat 3, if that.... I wake up Friday morning and am astonished to see it a ridiculous Cat 4! I then saw the eye "wobble", Or at least that's what I thought it was doing. My thoughts were "Oh s**t, we should probably get going because I don't want my family to be here for this" (Keep in mind I was 16 at the time). Then, as I watched it longer and saw loops and the meteorologists on TV talk about it, I was like okay.... We're going to miss out on the worst of it. We will be alright... Later that afternoon, when Charley was going through Arcadia, my brother and I were riding our bikes in the rain and wind. We managed to go about about a mile without peddling, due to the winds that clocked around 30-35 mph (maybe a few higher gusts but I can't remember right now)! Yes, you read that correctly, 30-35 mph with a Cat 2 hurricane about 40 miles to our east. I know, I know, we were on the west side of the system, but it still amazes me at how compact this storm was! The devastation Charley left behind was just staggering... It's not something I will soon forget.... Watching the images and live reports of Don Germaise in Punta Gorda and the roof being ripped off and flown into his direction, just incredible. Charley is the main reason I'm a broadcast meteorologist! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsman Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Amazing storm... Last frame of that loop just shows the "jog" east that caused me serious concern for friends & family in SW FL. Took some of them 4 years to settle insurance disputes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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