Top winds associated with a tropical cyclone on camera?

[Meteorcane]

Hey guys new here, and am curious as to what do you all believe are the strongest winds ever caught on camera during a tropical cyclone (Links are appreciated)?I have seen a few videos that I believe contain sustained winds in the 120-130 mph range and gusts to about 150-160, have you guys seen any videos that seem to show stronger winds then that?
Thanks, and I am not sure exactly where to put this topic, so if there is a better location please let me know.

[Hurricaneman]

there is a 27+ minute video of hurricane Andrew and at some points had to have had gusts well over 160

[Meteorcane]

there is a 27+ minute video of hurricane Andrew and at some points had to have had gusts well over 160

Yes I have seen that video... if only Andrew had been a day storm, it would provide a little more clarification to exactly what the winds were at that location (I believe in the 115-125 sustained with gusts in the 150 ball park).

[PTrackerLA]

Interesting question, I wonder the same as well. Personally the highest gusts I've experienced in a hurricane are 80mph-90mph and that was more than enough to make me say oh s***! and run for cover! I can't even comprehend what Andrew must have been like at night. When Rita made landfall well west of me at night and we had gusts in the 50s and 60s it felt MUCH stronger than that. It's been quite a year after seeing all the footage of the mega April tornado outbreak and seeing likely 200mph+ winds caught on tape.

[Cyclone1]

Good thread, this is interesting. I know daytime footage exists of Category 4's Charley and Iniki, both well shot and well indicative of extreme winds. Iniki is actually responsible for a lot of iconic stock footage that every TV show and documentary uses when talking about hurricanes. (Roofs blowing off, structures collapsing, etc.) For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flnTHQLVIjk The famous intro of one of the coolest shows ever on The Discovery Channel in the 90's. That structure collapsing at around 0:06 seconds in that you've seen a million times, that's from Iniki. I think the highest tropical-related winds I've ever seen on camera has gotta be Charley in Port Charlotte. Brutal. Andrew is probably the best Category 5 footage I know of, except that it's all at night. I'd be interested to see if there's any good Dean, Felix, or Gilbert footage, though.

[Meteorcane]

Good thread, this is interesting. I know daytime footage exists of Category 4's Charley and Iniki, both well shot and well indicative of extreme winds. Iniki is actually responsible for a lot of iconic stock footage that every TV show and documentary uses when talking about hurricanes. (Roofs blowing off, structures collapsing, etc.) For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flnTHQLVIjk The famous intro of one of the coolest shows ever on The Discovery Channel in the 90's. That structure collapsing at around 0:06 seconds in that you've seen a million times, that's from Iniki. I think the highest tropical-related winds I've ever seen on camera has gotta be Charley in Port Charlotte. Brutal. Andrew is probably the best Category 5 footage I know of, except that it's all at night. I'd be interested to see if there's any good Dean, Felix, or Gilbert footage, though.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGSyAmkDmxI[/youtube]

This Gilbert video at the 3 minute mark has some of the strongest winds I have ever seen (this is the southern eyewall unfortunately I can not find any Northern Eyewall video.

The Charley videos are very intense (and in daylight) and I would certainly rank them up there.

[Meteorcane]

Interesting question, I wonder the same as well. Personally the highest gusts I've experienced in a hurricane are 80mph-90mph and that was more than enough to make me say oh s***! and run for cover! I can't even comprehend what Andrew must have been like at night. When Rita made landfall well west of me at night and we had gusts in the 50s and 60s it felt MUCH stronger than that. It's been quite a year after seeing all the footage of the mega April tornado outbreak and seeing likely 200mph+ winds caught on tape.

Same here during Ike I would estimate I saw sustained winds in the mid 60's and gusts to the 80's and those seemed very intense, it is hard for me to even imagine being in sustained winds 100+ luckily they are quite rare.

[Cyclone1]

Wow, that Gilbert video is impressive.

[chaser1]

Nice fun subject, now that I have "Emily Withdrawal's".....

Well, during my Hurricane Chasing days ( before job, marriage, kids, etc ) I had captured video ( might have gotten some still photography too? ) during my last real chase. Was chasing Hurricane Charlie (8/'04) and intercepted this Cat. 4's tiny 5 mile diameter eye. Video was from under an overhang at the Fawcett Memorial Hospital Emergency entrance in Port Charlotte. Andrew was the worst/nastiest but as already mentioned above, was a fully night time event and while traveling up and down the coast seeking a safe vantage point to witness the storm, ultimately had to seek shelter in one of our homes down in Perrine/S. Miami Dade. We had gotten some great video in Hurricane Hugo while chasing in Luquillo, P.R. Probably the most/best accumulation of captured live photography ( mostly video ) EVER, was from 2 past chase partners of mine. Jim Leonard and Richard Horodner. They were ( and perhaps remain ) the "grand lamas" of Hurricane Chasing and live photography.

Am pretty sure that Jim had witness and filmed Cat. 5 winds from either Hurricane Allen in either Jamaica or Yucatan, Gilbert hitting Mexico in '88, or in one of the several supertyphoons he chased in Guam/Phillipean's

Ahhhhhh the memories............

[Meteorcane]

Anyone know any good chase/video footage of Iniki because to be honest I did not really know much about it (other than that it affected the cast of Jurassic Park lol), however after seeing some damage photos and some brief youtube videos my interest is peaked.

[artist]

Anyone know any good chase/video footage of Iniki because to be honest I did not really know much about it (other than that it affected the cast of Jurassic Park lol), however after seeing some damage photos and some brief youtube videos my interest is peaked.

not video but a tale of survival
http://helzhalfacre.com/iniki/

[artist]

also The Weather Channel did a documentary on Iniki. Don't know if you would be able to find it to see or not. Here is the info -
•Storm Stories: Jurassic Iniki ­- Premieres Sunday, August 9, 8:30 p.m. ET
August 1992, Director Steven Spielberg comes to Kauai, Hawaii, to begin filming Jurassic Park. Fantasy and reality collide as cast and crew face Hurricane Iniki, the most powerful hurricane to hit the Hawaiian Islands in more than a century. Never-before-seen footage and interviews tell this story of survival and ingenuity of a film crew trapped in a disaster.

[Meteorcane]

Hurricane Ivan in the Cayman's looks pretty intense in this video the airport's 150 sustained measurement may not be that far off, these Islanders are tough though they don't seem to show any fear.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDJRvpyrcm4[/youtube]

[petit_bois]

its a shame we have no clips fron Camille... the single most powerful eye to ever punch a coast.

[dolebot_Broward_NW]

Not a cyclone, but footage of the Joplin tornado a couple blocks from the tornado itself. Something like 200+mph right at the twister, while I'd say with a grain of salt that these winds are over 120mph:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=708_1306863507

[Typhoon Hunter]

Good thread, this is interesting. I know daytime footage exists of Category 4's Charley and Iniki, both well shot and well indicative of extreme winds. Iniki is actually responsible for a lot of iconic stock footage that every TV show and documentary uses when talking about hurricanes. (Roofs blowing off, structures collapsing, etc.) For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flnTHQLVIjk The famous intro of one of the coolest shows ever on The Discovery Channel in the 90's. That structure collapsing at around 0:06 seconds in that you've seen a million times, that's from Iniki. I think the highest tropical-related winds I've ever seen on camera has gotta be Charley in Port Charlotte. Brutal. Andrew is probably the best Category 5 footage I know of, except that it's all at night. I'd be interested to see if there's any good Dean, Felix, or Gilbert footage, though.

Raging Planet was an awesome series.

The clip in the intro you mention though was actually shot during typhoon Omar in Guam in 1997 by Jim Leonard. Here's the link - http://youtu.be/J1GtQr7eL-k

I believe hurricane Charley and hurricane Hugo in Puerto Rico have the most impressive daylight tropical cyclone winds, the cat. 5 daylight footage still alludes us!

[Cyclone1]

Good thread, this is interesting. I know daytime footage exists of Category 4's Charley and Iniki, both well shot and well indicative of extreme winds. Iniki is actually responsible for a lot of iconic stock footage that every TV show and documentary uses when talking about hurricanes. (Roofs blowing off, structures collapsing, etc.) For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flnTHQLVIjk The famous intro of one of the coolest shows ever on The Discovery Channel in the 90's. That structure collapsing at around 0:06 seconds in that you've seen a million times, that's from Iniki. I think the highest tropical-related winds I've ever seen on camera has gotta be Charley in Port Charlotte. Brutal. Andrew is probably the best Category 5 footage I know of, except that it's all at night. I'd be interested to see if there's any good Dean, Felix, or Gilbert footage, though.

Raging Planet was an awesome series.

The clip in the intro you mention though was actually shot during typhoon Omar in Guam in 1997 by Jim Leonard. Here's the link - http://youtu.be/J1GtQr7eL-k

I believe hurricane Charley and hurricane Hugo in Puerto Rico have the most impressive daylight tropical cyclone winds, the cat. 5 daylight footage still alludes us!

Wow! I aaaaalways thought that was Iniki. Thanks for the correction. I was right about the year anyway.

[beoumont]

Nice fun subject, now that I have "Emily Withdrawal's".....

Well, during my Hurricane Chasing days ( before job, marriage, kids, etc ) I had captured video ( might have gotten some still photography too? ) during my last real chase. Was chasing Hurricane Charlie (8/'04) and intercepted this Cat. 4's tiny 5 mile diameter eye. Video was from under an overhang at the Fawcett Memorial Hospital Emergency entrance in Port Charlotte. Andrew was the worst/nastiest but as already mentioned above, was a fully night time event and while traveling up and down the coast seeking a safe vantage point to witness the storm, ultimately had to seek shelter in one of our homes down in Perrine/S. Miami Dade. We had gotten some great video in Hurricane Hugo while chasing in Luquillo, P.R. Probably the most/best accumulation of captured live photography ( mostly video ) EVER, was from 2 past chase partners of mine. Jim Leonard and Richard Horodner. They were ( and perhaps remain ) the "grand lamas" of Hurricane Chasing and live photography.

Am pretty sure that Jim had witness and filmed Cat. 5 winds from either Hurricane Allen in either Jamaica or Yucatan, Gilbert hitting Mexico in '88, or in one of the several supertyphoons he chased in Guam/Phillipean's

Ahhhhhh the memories............

Mr. Dressler:

I have never seen the video (if it exists) of the intense core of Andrew where the poster at the top says the wind was filmed at 150-160 mph. I hope he or someone else will find and post that video. Maybe he is referring to Laca's film from Coconut Grove where the winds were about 110 mph; gusts 120, TOPS. His partner there claims on his website he intercepted a cat 5 hurricane; which is kinda true - but he was 11 miles from the northern edge of the eye.

Please find and post that video, anyone.

Now, as far as what chasers have witnessed the highest winds; that is you and me during Andrew; where Fujita later determined the house we were at had winds of 175 (or so). You, me, and a Mr. Brown (at the HoJo in Homestead) are the only chasers to have ever intercepted the inner eyewall of a cat 5 hurricane; to my knowledge. As you recall we were hiding in the fortified room, under the oak table, when the max winds occurred in pitch black darkness. Both our cameras, if you recall, quit functioning before the max winds arrived; due to moisture intake.

If there was such a thing as smellavision; we would have captured some of the best of that ever recorded. We used up a whole case of toilet paper that night, that's for sure.

Andrew, if you didn't read my account of Andrew, it is here:
http://www.hurricanevideo.citymax.com/andrew.html

Keep in mind that there were several hundred thousand people that ALSO experienced the 175+ mph of Andrew, but did not film it; so we are not all that unique, really. Plus all those folks in Biloxi that experienced Camille in 1969 experienced Cat 5 winds. If anyone is still alive that went through the 1935 storm in the Keys, they too, have seen cat 5 winds (cat "6", maybe.) That was the strongest storm to have made landfall in the W. Hemisphere in modern history; not Camille.

The highest winds I have seen on film were shot by Leonard and Laca at Luquillo, (you were standing right next to them) during Hugo--and estimated 155 mph in gusts. I recall meeting up with you at the San Juan airport shortly thereafter, and you could not quit talking, you were so excited.
Jim's footage of Omar was darn close to as strong; as well.

Jim did intercept Allen, but in Texas and the highest winds were "only" a little over 100 mph when it came in. His trip to Jamaica for Gilbert were not in the cat 5 range, that's for sure.

Again, if the poster above or anyone else can locate that supposed film of Andrew's max winds, please post it.

[Meteorcane]

Wow beoumont, amazing account, I could not even imagine facing 180 mph gusts in the dead of night. Also I found that pressure gradient to be very interesting, I realized Andrew was a compact storm, but that tiny gradient helps further explain just why it was such an extreme wind event. And I believe the number of people in the world that have actually experienced even 100 knot sustained winds is quite small, much less the 130+ knot sustained winds you guys likely experienced in andrew.

[beoumont]

Wow beoumont, amazing account, I could not even imagine facing 180 mph gusts in the dead of night. Also I found that pressure gradient to be very interesting, I realized Andrew was a compact storm, but that tiny gradient helps further explain just why it was such an extreme wind event. And I believe the number of people in the world that have actually experienced even 100 knot sustained winds is quite small, much less the 130+ knot sustained winds you guys likely experienced in andrew.

Most everyone, including myself, experienced some level of "shell shock" immediately after that frightful night.

I would guess, that almost every living adult in the Philippines has at least once experienced 100 knot sustained winds.