"Worst Hurricane"

[huronicane]

This morning's XKCD comic:

 

 

In larger format here: http://xkcd.com/1407/large/

 

I would argue that there are some discrepancies, and I believe the map was put together using rainfall totals only, judging by the title of the chart.

 

What changes would you make?  I think Ivan would take up some of Opal in Georgia, Eloise in Georgia, and parts of Gaston/Isabel/Hazel in Virginia.

[Juliancolton]

Very intricate map (as usual with Randall's comics) and quite interesting if taken at face value: an estimation of what *should* be the most nutritious storms based on quantified impacts. In actuality, I think people are more likely to remember recent events, even those that pale in comparison to their predecessors. I know folks in southern Florida (both west and east coasts) who hold Wilma as the most noteworthy storm in memory, for example, even though the Labor Day and Okeechobee storms were far more intense. Worth noting that Esther was in '61, not '51 as currently annotated.

 

All that said, the map seems quite accurate for upstate NY. In my area it's usually a tossup between Floyd and Irene, and that's reflected well in the map.

[Supercane]

Cool map. It looks pretty accurate for my area as well -- Hazel and Fran are the two legends around here.

[jm1220]

The Sandy zone goes too far west in PA-Agnes should take up much more of that region. But in my area locally, Sandy is definitely the worst. But it's right in that the 1938 hurricane became worse just east of here.

[Kory]

Being from the New Orleans, Katrina is obviously the big name everyone still talks about. Although, a lot of the older folks, like my grandparents, talk about Betsy. It flooded parts of New Orleans like Katrina did such as the 9th ward and St. Bernard. Katrina was just more widespread.

As far as Tuscaloosa where I live for college, I've never heard anyone speak of Frederick. They mention Rita, which spawned a lot of tornadoes across West Central Alabama.

[GaWx]

Interesting map. The GA cane of 1947 was quite interesting. That storm is infamous in that it was seemingly headed NE out to sea well east of FL/GA after hitting S FL in mid October. Because it was felt to no longer be a threat to the U.S., an experimental dropping of dry ice was done for the first time in any storm to try to weaken it. Shortly afterward, it turned left 135 degrees and the center took a due west path to just south of Savannah. At the time, the path change was blamed on the seeding. In reality, it ran into an atmospheric roadblock, a strong upper high to its north. Regardless, I do wonder if the dry ice could have weakened it just enough to bring down the mean steering level to the point where it allowed more of a westerly net flow and thus altered the path somewhat from what would have occurred without the seeding. I guess we'll never know for sure.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_Cape_Sable_hurricane

[icebreaker5221]

Interesting map. The GA cane of 1947 was quite interesting. That storm is infamous in that it was seemingly headed NE out to sea well east of FL/GA after hitting S FL in mid October. Because it was felt to no longer be a threat to the U.S., an experimental dropping of dry ice was done for the first time in any storm to try to weaken it. Shortly afterward, it turned left 135 degrees and the center took a due west path to just south of Savannah. At the time, the path change was blamed on the seeding. In reality, it ran into an atmospheric roadblock, a strong upper high to its north. Regardless, I do wonder if the dry ice could have weakened it just enough to bring down the mean steering level to the point where it allowed more of a westerly net flow and thus altered the path somewhat from what would have occurred without the seeding. I guess we'll never know for sure.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_Cape_Sable_hurricane

 

The 1947 hurricane was the 1st storm they attempted to modify (under Project Cirrus), while Hurricane Ginger (1971) was the last in which attempts to weaken a TC were made under project Stormfury using silver iodide.  Coincidentally, due to similar westward-building subtropical high, Ginger also made a sudden turn back towards the coast following seeding. 

 

 

[Sunny and Warm]

The 1947 hurricane was the 1st storm they attempted to modify (under Project Cirrus), while Hurricane Ginger (1971) was the last in which attempts to weaken a TC were made under project Stormfury using silver iodide.  Coincidentally, due to similar westward-building subtropical high, Ginger also made a sudden turn back towards the coast following seeding. 

 

at194708.gif

 

at197108.gif

Something is slightly wrong in those gifs.  1947 is described as a Cat 2 with 85 max mph winds, and Ginger is described as a Cat 1 with 110 mph max winds.  Odd.

[icebreaker5221]

Something is slightly wrong in those gifs.  1947 is described as a Cat 2 with 85 max mph winds, and Ginger is described as a Cat 1 with 110 mph max winds.  Odd.

Yeah, I've also found some weird inconsistencies on those wunderground storm overviews.

[ORH_wxman]

I'm not sure Hurricane Bob can hold a candle to 1938 and Hurricane Carol even right near where it made landfall in SE MA.

[PSUBlizzicane2007]

Dennis needs to be much much much smaller. Like Dennis only is the worst Hurricane for the tiny little Peninsula my parents live on, not including houses on the shore. Everywhere else, Ivan is the worst

[SouthernWx2]

This morning's XKCD comic:

 

 

In larger format here: http://xkcd.com/1407/large/

 

I would argue that there are some discrepancies, and I believe the map was put together using rainfall totals only, judging by the title of the chart.

 

What changes would you make?  I think Ivan would take up some of Opal in Georgia, Eloise in Georgia, and parts of Gaston/Isabel/Hazel in Virginia.

I lived in Douglasville, GA (west of Atlanta) during Eloise, Opal, and Ivan and Opal was the worst hands down.  It put most of west metro Atlanta in the dark for 3-4 days, and was even worse closer to the Alabama state line where it appeared gusts near 90 mph occurred.  

[BrianLaverty]

I dont see how Hurricane Bob is worse then 1938 hurricane in New Bedford.  1938 was a disaster in all of RI so thats accurate, but Bob worse in New Bedford?  I dont get it.

[Harry]

When i lived in Ocean City MD i never heard much about 44 but a ton about 33 which supposedly formed the inlet at the south end of town.

[ncforecaster89]

Let me preface my comments by conveying my genuine appreciation for the unique map idea shown above. It's a really cool graphic!

That said, I respectfully disagree with the decision to use precipitation totals, as the exclusive component, in determining the supposed "worst" hurricane impact for a designated area.

With that in mind, I would most certainly amend the map to show "Fran" as the worst hurricane impact (during the past 100 years) for northern New Hanover county and all of Pender and Onslow counties in NC. In doing so, I would be eliminating hurricanes Diana and Bonnie from the map, as well as removing Floyd for the coastal counties currently shown on the map. Hurricane Donna should take Helene's portion of the map (for Carteret County), as well.

These are just a few revisions I would suggest derived from a quick gleaming of the aforementioned map, referenced above.

[ORH_wxman]

Let me preface my comments by conveying my genuine appreciation for the unique map idea shown above. It's a really cool graphic!

That said, I respectfully disagree with the decision to use precipitation totals, as the exclusive component, in determining the supposed "worst" hurricane impact for a designated area.

With that in mind, I would most certainly amend the map to show "Fran" as the worst hurricane impact (during the past 100 years) for northern New Hanover county and all of Pender and Onslow counties in NC. In doing so, I would be eliminating hurricanes Diana and Bonnie from the map, as well as removing Floyd for the coastal counties currently shown on the map. Hurricane Donna should take Helene's portion of the map (for Carteret County), as well.

These are just a few revisions I would suggest derived from a quick gleaming of the aforementioned map, referenced above.

 

 

I'm not sure they use precip totals as the only indicator because the text on the maps says it also uses the HURDAT database which gives best track and wind radii....regardless the cartoon map is pretty cool to look at, but definitely some inconsistencies if you analyze it closely.

[Superstorm93]

For the West Palm Beach area, I would have to say that Wilma back in 2005 is what most people refer to as the worst storm in memory down there. Experiencing it myself, it was a pretty terrifying storm. Entire penthouses were sucked out by winds well over 110 knots, leaving nothing left.  

 

As for the Northern NJ area, Sandy and Floyd ('99) are pretty much neck and neck for which storm was most destructive. Floyd couldn't hold a candle to the wind damage that Sandy produced, but on the other side, Sandy couldn't hold a candle to the inland flood damage that Floyd produced.

 

For example, I think with Floyd we had about 9 feet of water in the center of our town when all was said and done (which shut everything down for eight days in mid-September) with small branches down everywhere. My basement, which never flooded also had three feet of water in it. 

 

With Sandy, we must have had about two inches of rain, but trees and debris down literally everywhere. There's a patch of forest near my house that is just completely flattened for about 500 yards. To this day I have no idea what the gusts were in our area, but they must have been in the mid-eighties at one point.   

[Absolute Humidity]

For the West Palm Beach area, I would have to say that Wilma back in 2005 is what most people refer to as the worst storm in memory down there. Experiencing it myself, it was a pretty terrifying storm. Entire penthouses were sucked out by winds well over 110 knots, leaving nothing left.  

 

As for the Northern NJ area, Sandy and Floyd ('99) are pretty much neck and neck for which storm was most destructive. Floyd couldn't hold a candle to the wind damage that Sandy produced, but on the other side, Sandy couldn't hold a candle to the inland flood damage that Floyd produced.

 

For example, I think with Floyd we had about 9 feet of water in the center of our town when all was said and done (which shut everything down for eight days in mid-September) with small branches down everywhere. My basement, which never flooded also had three feet of water in it. 

 

With Sandy, we must have had about two inches of rain, but trees and debris down literally everywhere. There's a patch of forest near my house that is just completely flattened for about 500 yards. To this day I have no idea what the gusts were in our area, but they must have been in the mid-eighties at one point.

Agreed. Sandy was all about wind and track. Had about 3" rain here where as with Floyd and even more so Irene; at least here had 10" rain but neither can hold a candle to Sandy's sustained hurricane force winds measured at 77mph along the Jersey shore hours before landfall and then her 80 - 90mph inland wind gusts that pounded for over 12 hours leaving trees and utility lines and roofing shingles, siding and gutters scattered about everywhere.

[ncforecaster89]

Looking at the map, I don't see a hurricane listing attached to the two tiny areas designated under the Pamlico River, as well as the two small areas outlined above it. I might just be overly exhausted and am somehow overlooking it. Anyone else have any idea what was intended (by the maps producers) for these specific designated areas-based on the map, itself?

[ncforecaster89]

I'm not sure they use precip totals as the only indicator because the text on the maps says it also uses the HURDAT database which gives best track and wind radii....regardless the cartoon map is pretty cool to look at, but definitely some inconsistencies if you analyze it closely.

I totally agree! I should've caught that (the reference to the HURDAT database) in the text displayed on the map.

That said, I'm still not quite sure how they derived some of the storm impacts (and designated localities), based on either of those references. Regardless, I, too, still think the map was a cool idea!

[jm1220]

Agreed. Sandy was all about wind and track. Had about 3" rain here where as with Floyd and even more so Irene; at least here had 10" rain but neither can hold a candle to Sandy's sustained hurricane force winds measured at 77mph along the Jersey shore hours before landfall and then her 80 - 90mph inland wind gusts that pounded for over 12 hours leaving trees and utility lines and roofing shingles, siding and gutters scattered about everywhere.

In terms of rain, Sandy was a complete non-entity here, we had maybe an inch of rain on Long Island. It was all about the winds on the NE side of the storm as well as the massive surge. We had 85-95 mph gusts on Long Island and devastation like I never thought I would ever see up here. One scene I distinctly remember that night was the flashing transformers that made the sky seem like a violent thunderstorm was overhead, although it would rain no heavier than occasional light showers.

[Absolute Humidity]

I would also argue "The Great Atlantic Hurricane" of Sept 1944 had more significant impact along the south Jersey coast from Cape May to Atlantic City than Sandy. Otherwise, this is a very cool hand drawn map.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1944_Great_Atlantic_Hurricane

[tamarack]

I'd switch to 1938 for Carol's share of NH/Maine, as the earlier storm caused way more forest damage - by far the worst for any widespread wind event there for the period under consideration. There are still many acres of even-aged stands about 75 years old in that country. Also, the northern tip of Maine should have Belle (1976) noted, as it caused the worst flooding there of any event not involving snowmelt.

I also blinked at the date for Galveston, until I noted the timeframe for the graphic.

[valkhorn]

I can safely tell you that everyone around Waveland and southern MS no longer remembers Camille as the worst storm ever since Katrina came along.

 

Edit: Also Ivan in central MS was worse than Frederic, so the Ivan block could have gone further west - however Katrina was pretty much the worst hurricane in living memory for almost the entire state - Camille included. There's a saying on the MS gulf coast, what Camille didn't destroy, Katrina did.

 

Second - how many people can remember storms from the 1910s? Really? Now that I'm up near the Smoky Mountains the worst storm anyone can remember there was actually Sandy due to 3-4 feet of heavy wet snow that fell there in a matter of a couple of days.

[isohume]

I haven't checked with everyone in my town, but 2004's Frances, Ivan and Jeanne were horrific for our mountain counties. A 1-2-3 punch that created several deaths from flash flooding and landslides.

[Cfa]

I doubt many people on Long Island remember the 1938 hurricane, whereas damage from Sandy can still be seen in some areas.

[WEATHER53]

The worst storm for Ocean City was the one that cut the inlet in 1933.

Great March Storm of 1962 really has not been supassed even with Gloria and a few others.

[klw]

I would change the lines for Irene in Vermont to include more of Central Vermont and SE Vermont.  The Windsor, Rutland and Windham areas were among the hardest hit while the NEK didn't do that badly in comparison.  I think the map is missing that Killington, Bridgewater, Rochester, Woodstock area where it was particularly bad.

 

Fantastic job on the map however! Very cool idea.

[IntenseBlizzard2014]

The Worst Hurricanes for Mount Vernon, NY were Sandy, Irene and Floyd ('99).

[wolfman23601]

I wasn't around in 1933, but Isabel was the worst here I lived through.