Hurricane Edith (1971)
Edith developed from a tropical wave on September 5 and quickly strengthened into a hurricane in the Caribbean Sea. It made landfall on Cape Gracias a Dios as a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It quickly lost intensity over Central America and after briefly entering the Gulf of Honduras it crossed the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. After making landfall on Louisiana with winds of 105 mph, it steadily weakened over land and dissipated over Georgia on September 18.
About Hurricane Edith (1971) in brief
Hurricane Edith was the strongest hurricane to form during the 1971 Atlantic hurricane season. Edith developed from a tropical wave on September 5 and quickly strengthened into a hurricane in the Caribbean Sea. On September 9, the storm rapidly intensified, and within 24 hours, Edith strengthened from a minimal hurricane to a powerful 160 mph Category 5 hurricane just off the coast of Nicaragua. It made landfall on Cape Gracias a Dios as a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. At its peak intensity, the eye was only 5 miles in diameter, making Edith the least intense category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record. It quickly lost intensity over Central America and after briefly entering the Gulf of Honduras it crossed the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. After making landfall on Louisiana with winds of 105 mph, it steadily weakened over land and dissipated over Georgia on September 18. The hurricane killed two people when it passed near Aruba. It destroyed hundreds of homes and killed at least 35 people in Central America. Damage in the United States totaled US$25 million. Edith caused moderate to heavy damage in portions of Louisiana due to flooding and a tornado outbreak from the storm.
It continued to weaken as it moved northwestward, and made landfall near Belize on September 11 as a tropical storm with tropical storm winds of 70mph. It was the southernmost landfalling Category 5 Hurricane on record in the Atlantic until 2007. It is one of the only Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes to not have its name retired, next to 1953’s Hurricane Carol, 1961’s Hurricane Esther and 2005’s Hurricane Emily. It weakened further over the mountainous terrain of northeastern Central America, and 18hours after it made landfall, it emerged into the Gulf of Honduras as an 80mph Category 1 hurricane. The cause for the explosive deepening is unknown, though it is speculated that the transformation in the upper troposphere from an upper-level low to an anticyclone led to a release of baroclinic energy. At the peak of the storm the eye of the hurricane was only very well-defined, with only a pinhole of extreme turbulence in the eye. The eye was very well defined, with a very well well- defined eye, only 5-miles in diameter, and only a few very large holes in the storm’s eye.
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This page is based on the article Hurricane Edith (1971) published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 21, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
