This is the Hurricane Warning
archive of hurricane Katrina.
The best data available was used
to create this archive, in order to
make it as educational as possible.
Meteorological Analysis
Katrina originated from a complex interaction of weather systems. The first
system involved was the short lived tropical depression 10. This system
degenerated on August 14th but, it continued to flare up as it crossed the ocean.
Shear eventually destroyed the low level components of the depression's
remnants on the 21st while it was near Cuba. The middle level components
continued on however and produced convection. A separate and faster moving
tropical wave joined with the remnants of TD 10 on August 19th. A new
vertically complete system was made at this point, and organization increased
with it. The system continued to move west towards Florida under the sub
tropical ridge and entered the Bahamas. Satellite imagery indicated on the
23rd that a tropical depression had formed. The depression continued to
organize and banding improved as indicated by radar and satellite. On the
24th the depression became tropical storm Katrina. Katrina was heading
northwest but, as it deepened it turned west due to a mid-level ridge.
Katrina then crossed the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, which is like jet
fuel for a tropical cyclone. The inner core of Katrina rapidly organized and
Katrina became a hurricane on the 25th just off of Florida. An eye wall started
to form. Katrina was no doubt rapidly intensifying but, it made landfall which
slowed this intensification. Katrina made landfall near Hollywood, Florida with
80 mph winds. Most of the rain associated with Katrina was south of the eye
due to shear from a strengthening ridge to the north. This ridge unexpectedly
caused Katrina to go WSW right after landfall. A lull was reported with the new
formed eye as it passed over observers, and it was clear a well defined eye
wall had formed. Katrina didn't show much weakening the evening of the 25th
as it moved over the flat terrain of South Florida. Katrina emerged on the 26th
just north of Cape Sable, into the Gulf of Mexico. Katrina quickly regained
hurricane strength over the water, and surprised the keys with hurricane
like conditions (the surprise was from the unexpected WSW movement).
Sustained hurricane force winds occurred on the Dry Tortugas, while the
rest of the Keys experienced near hurricane conditions. Katrina was now
over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and it rapidly intensified to a
Cat 3 on the 27th. Later on the 27th, Katrina exploded in size. It literally
filled the Gulf of Mexico at this point. Tropical storm force winds were
reported in Cuba. Katrina continued around the ridge, and turned north west.
Another rapid intensification phase then occurred and on the 28th Katrina
reached max winds of 175 mph, a very remarkable Cat 5. Luckily for coastal
residents, Katrina rapidly weakened to a Cat 3 with 125 mph winds before landfall. This was due to a combination of eye wall deterioration, dry air, cool
shelf waters, and some shear. Nonetheless, Katrina still had a huge, damaging
wind field and an incredible storm surge. The first landfall was in Buras,
Louisiana on the 29th. The second landfall was right on the Louisiana/
Mississippi border. Katrina continued as a hurricane until central Mississippi
and weakened into a depression over Tennessee. Katrina finally dissipated on
the 31st, ending a frightening chapter in hurricane history, although the
season had alot more in store.
Casualty and Damage Overview
Katrina was one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history. The death toll
may never be known but, the NHC reports 1833 fatalities. This is a staggering
number for modern times. 1577 fatalities were in Louisiana, 238 in Mississippi,
14 in Florida, 2 in Alabama, and 2 in Georgia. The Louisiana death toll is
primarily from storm surge, especially in the New Orleans area. There, the
levees broke and the below sea level city filled with water. There was mass
suffering and chaos due to this. Practically the whole city was destroyed due
to the inundation of water. In Mississippi, the whole coast was essentially
destroyed as a 30 foot surge roared ashore. Extensive damage extended to
Dauphin Island, Alabama, and even into Florida. There was some wind damage
in South Florida as well as water damage from Katrina's first landfall. Despite
the huge death toll, it is likely that the evacuation of 1.4 million people saved
many. Total damages reached $81 billion, the costliest hurricane in U.S.
history. Economic ramifications from Katrina will continue for years, and some
places may never fully recover.
