Woodstock Weather

I have been thinking about hurricanes lately, and wondering if this year's hurricane season is over. Last year's season ended on October 3rd. This year we have had strong westerly winds and high wind shear over the Tropical Atlantic for the past month or so. It does look like the season is over for any Cape Verde storms... however, as we head toward the last six weeks of the season, we generally look toward the western Caribbean and southern Gulf of Mexico. Central America, Jamaica and Cuba continue to worry about late season hurricanes, and sometimes the west coast of Florida. If we are going to get something going in the tropics soon, it will likely be in that area.

It sure has been a quiet two years for the United States regarding the tropics. This year we had Hurricane Humberto that struck High Island, Texas. That was a storm that went from a cluster of thunderstorms to a hurricane in less than 24 hours. Last year there were no landfalling hurricanes in the United States. One minor hurricane in two years... not bad after the beatings we took in 2004 and 2005. '04 had the four hurricanes that hit Florida, and '05 was Katrina and Rita among others.

I have also been thinking about the hurricane that was considered the benchmark along the Gulf Coast before Katrina came along, Hurricane Camille. Camille made landfall at the mouth of the Mississippi River on the night of August 17th, 1969. It was a category 5 hurricane with winds to 190 mph. The coast of Mississippi was destroyed by this storm and it's 24 foot storm surge. My family and I happened to visit Biloxi during Mardi Gras in 2005, just a few months before Katrina hit (we also visited New Orleans). I was amazed by some of the historical markers showing the affects of Camille that were still visible then. I was impressed further a few months later whem I learned that some buildings that survived Camille were destroyed by Katrina.

Another interesting tidbit about Hurricane Camille. Another historic event was occuring at the same time that this historic hurricane was approaching. The Woodstock Music and Art Fair was taking place in Upstate New York from August 15 through August 18th. On Friday night, as Joan Baez was wrapping up the night with her version of "We Shall Overcome", Hurricane Camille with winds up to 115 mph was moving across western Cuba. After weakening a bit over land, Camille spent Saturday rapidly intensifying. The storm had 100 mph winds in the morning. Winds were up to 150 mph by the time Janis Joplin was performing, and had reached category 5 before the Greatful Dead reached stage. Camille continued to intensify through Sunday, and made landfall around midnight Sunday night, just as Blood, Sweat and Tears was taking the stage. Woodstock itself was plagued with weather problems, but nothing like the devastation along the Gulf Coast.

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