Hurricane Celia

This article is about the Atlantic hurricane of 1970. For other storms of the same name, see Hurricane Celia (disambiguation).

Hurricane Celia

Category 3 hurricane (SSHS)
Hurricane Celia making landfall in Texas
Formed	July 31, 1970
Dissipated	August 5, 1970
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 125 mph (205 km/h)
Lowest pressure	945 mbar (hPa); 27.91 inHg
Fatalities	27 direct, 1 indirect
Damage	$930 million (1970 USD)
Areas affected	western Cuba, coastal Florida and Texas
Part of the 1970 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Celia was the third named tropical cyclone, the second hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 1970 Atlantic hurricane season. Celia began as a tropical wave which formed off the eastern coast of Africa on July 23. The wave reached the eastern Caribbean Sea on July 28 and began to become more organized. The low was declared a tropical depression a few days later while slowly developing. The depression crossed over western Cuba late on July 31, causing five fatalities. Shortly after emerging into the Gulf of Mexico, the depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Celia. With warm sea surface temperatures, Celia rapidly intensified into a major hurricane on the August 1.

The intensification was temporary and Celia weakened to a minimal hurricane the next morning. As Celia moved towards the Texas coastline, it began to rapidly intensify again. The storm reached its peak as it made landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas, as a strong Category Three hurricane late on August 3. The storm caused 15 fatalities in Texas before dissipating inland the next day. Damages in Texas totaled to $930 million, making Celia the costliest disaster in Texas history at the time. To date, Celia is last major hurricane to strike the city of Corpus Christi, Texas, directly.

Meteorological history

Storm path

The precursor to Hurricane Celia was a tropical wave that moved off the eastern African coast on July 23. The wave moved quickly at 20 mph (32 km/h) to 25 mph (40 km/h) with no development. The wave entered into the eastern Caribbean Sea on July 28 and began to show signs of development. Pressures over the Southern United States were falling at that time, eroding the subtropical ridge. This allowed the storm to develop a closed circulation and the wave was declared a tropical disturbance on July 29. The disturbance was declared Tropical Depression Three the next day. Tropical Depression Three crossed over western Cuba that night. A reconnaissance flight found that the depression had a pressure of 1007 mbar at the time but they could not finish the mission due to the proximity to Cuba. The storm entered the Gulf of Mexico late on July 31 and began to feed off the warm waters. On the morning of August 1, another reconnaissance flight found winds of tropical storm intensity and the depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Celia.

Satellite loops of Celia showed that the storm was becoming more organized throughout the day. A reconnaissance mission in the afternoon confirmed the intensification, and Celia was upgraded to a major hurricane with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) and a pressure of 965 mbar (hPa; 28.49 inHg). The rapid intensification was brief and Celia weakened to a category one the next morning. The storm moved in a steady west north-west motion since it entered the gulf, and several reconnaissance missions flew into the storm to provide forecasters with valuable data. The forecast errors at that time were some of the lowest in several years; they were 38.4 mi (61.8 km) and 64 mi (103 km) for 12 and 24 hours, respectively compared to the long term mean of over 100 mi (160 km). As Celia neared the Texas coastline, another round of rapid deepening occurred. The pressure dropped 39 mbar in 15 hours and the winds increased to 125 mph (201 km/h), just short of category four status.

The intensification was unexpected as conditions were not in favor of rapid development. After moving inland, Celia maintained tropical storm intensity for 30 hours before dissipating over western Texas on August 5. The slow dissipation was unusual since Celia was a relatively small storm, and such storms usually break apart after shortly landfall. Celia was an unusual hurricane in that most of the damage was caused by sudden and severe wind gusts on the left side of the storm. Sustained winds were never higher than 120 mph (190 km/h) to 130 mph (210 km/h) but gusts locally reached 160 mph (260 km/h) or more. The gusts were in streaks and only lasted for 15 minutes.

Impact

Rainfall map

Celia caused 27 fatalities, four in Cuba, eight in Florida and 15 in Texas and left $930 million in damages. Corpus Christi, Texas suffered the worst damage with at least 80% of all the structures in the city damaged and half of those damaged were severely damaged or destroyed.

Cuba and Florida

As a tropical depression, Celia dropped heavy rains over western Cuba, resulting in major flooding. Four people drowned and another man was electrocuted in the water when he tried to retrieve a downed power line. While over the central Gulf of Mexico, strong rip currents and large swells produced by the storm resulted in eight drownings along the Florida coastline.

Texas

Boats blown ashore by Celia at Aransas Pass

Throughout southern Texas, Hurricane Celia killed 15 people, injured 466 others, and caused $930 million in damages. The most severe damage was in Corpus Christi and Aransas Pass, Texas. There, 8,950 homes were destroyed and over 60,000 others were damaged, accounting for $250 million of the total losses. The most severe damage occurred in the streaks of damage. The streaks were not caused by a tornado as no evidence of rotation was found. The swaths of damage were caused by a series of microbursts and downbursts, most of which occurred in a 15 minute span. Survivors of the storm described the downbursts as suddenly rocket shells exploding. However, areas between the streaks suffered surprisingly little damage, mainly ornamental due to debris from the homes nearby. Some of the worst damage was at a trailer camp where several hundred mobile homes were left in mangled ruins, some even stacked on top of each other. A newly constructed shopping center, which was thought to have the finest construction, was left completely destroyed. Damage to most of the structures was mainly roof damage. However, several homes suffered more severe damage or were destroyed. Some homes had their entire roof torn off, leaving only the fixed appliances.

Celia dropped heavy rains as it made landfall. Due to the small size and fast movement of the storm, the rainfall was not widespread. At the time of landfall, much of Texas was suffering from a drought and the heavy rains were welcome. The heaviest rains fell in Corpus Christi where up to 7 in (180 mm) inches fell. Most areas received 3 in (76 mm) to 4 in (100 mm) of rain.

After Celia's landfall, most homeowners insurance policies refused to write insurance for areas considered to be "high risk" along the Texas coast, prompting the state government to form the Texas Catastrophe Property Insurance Association, now known as the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. Today, the pool covers all coastal counties of Texas and even some inland counties, including parts of Harris County near Houston, Texas.

Retirement

See also: List of retired Atlantic hurricane names

Due to the severity of damage caused by the hurricane, the World Meteorological Organization retired the name Celia the following year. The name was then replaced by Carmen which was retired upon its first use in 1974.

See also

• 1970 Atlantic hurricane season
• List of Atlantic hurricanes
• List of tropical cyclones

External links

• Satellite loop of Celia
• Storm path

Tropical cyclones of the 1970 Atlantic hurricane season
A B C 4 D E F 19 G 9 10		Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale TD TS C1 C2 C3 C4 C5