What was the highest ground level gust recording in an.....

[Jim Cantore]

Atlantic Hurricane


I heard the Hurricane Hunters had 235mph near ground level with Rita at her peak

Does anyone know the record gusts at ground level on land and sea?

[terstorm1012]

Rumors (and probably not credible)

235 at Turkey Pt Power Plant during Andrew.

Word from relatives in the Cutler Ridge area that there were 200+mph gusts during Andrew, again not confirmed and they were likely lower gusts.

200+, as high as 250 at Islamorada during 1935 Labor Day storm (per a late 1960s book titled "Hurricanes" I read that described engineering reports from the keys).

I think the 235 could be an error in Rita, but I did hear that story too.

[Normandy]

Rumors (and probably not credible)

235 at Turkey Pt Power Plant during Andrew.

Word from relatives in the Cutler Ridge area that there were 200+mph gusts during Andrew, again not confirmed and they were likely lower gusts.

200+, as high as 250 at Islamorada during 1935 Labor Day storm (per a late 1960s book titled "Hurricanes" I read that described engineering reports from the keys).

I think the 235 could be an error in Rita, but I did hear that story too.

Man I wish we could have sampled and viewed the Labor Day storm.

[Derek Ortt]

200 m.p.h. gusts likely did occur in eastern parts of Homestead, since sustained winds wer eof cat 5. I believe 200 m.p.h. gusts also occurred at Cozemul during Gilbert. The turkey point ob may not be at 10m, so it could be accurate, but just not representative of the standard 10m wind

[Normandy]

200 m.p.h. gusts likely did occur in eastern parts of Homestead, since sustained winds wer eof cat 5. I believe 200 m.p.h. gusts also occurred at Cozemul during Gilbert. The turkey point ob may not be at 10m, so it could be accurate, but just not representative of the standard 10m wind

Derek, what do u think Wilma produced in the Yucatan as far as gusts....I remember hearing about 135 knt and 137 knt surface readings from dropsondes....were those sustained or gusts? Just curious because i have heard that Wilma was worse than gilbert for the Yucatan (maybe because is sat there longer).

[Aslkahuna]

I think the highest officially recorded wind gust in a hurricane period is at Blue Hill Observatory in 1938 with 186 mph. I believe that Port Lavaca recorded 172 mph during Carla in 1961. Curiously, this is in the same ballpark as the highest gust from a low elevation station in an ET Low in the lower 48 from Cape Blanco OR in 1962. Alaska, especially the Aleutians, see gusts over 120kt all of the time with big ET Lows.

Steve

[Derek Ortt]

wilma may have produced gusts approaching 160KT over the Yucatan

Wilma was worse because it lasted far longer than Gilbert

[Scorpion]

How come I haven't heard of any significant damage in the Yucatan? Seems like everything is going back to normal. Cruise ships and everything are still going. Doesnt seem anything happened.

[Derek Ortt]

no damage to the Yucatan?

Try severe damage to Cozemul and Cancun

[Normandy]

Yes the damage made Emily's looks like a TS. How are the building codes in teh Yucatan? Id imagine they are strong.

[quandary]

How come I haven't heard of any significant damage in the Yucatan? Seems like everything is going back to normal. Cruise ships and everything are still going. Doesnt seem anything happened.

Um... google hurricane wilma and look at the recent news... Cancun is totally dehabilitated. 1.7 billion dollars in insurance damage, which should more than double to about 4 billion in total damages assuming this doesn't go up even higher. 4 billion in mexico is a lot of money