THE GULF OF MEXICO AFTER HURRICANE HILDA (PRELIMINARY RESULTS),
Abstract
Hurricane HILDA crossed the Gulf of Mexico in the period September 30 to October 4, 1964, developing to a very severe hurricane in the central Gulf. Sea temperature data available prior to the storm indicated what is probably a typical late summer situation with some surface temperatures running above 30C. Beginning on October 5, a seven-day cruise was conducted over the area where hurricane winds, had been observed. Using the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries vessel GUS III, four crossings of the hurricane path were made, one where the maximum 150 mph winds were observed, one south of that where the winds had first reached 120, one north where they had decreased to 120 and one in shallow water (40 fathoms), where prior data had been collected by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service from their Galveston Biological Laboratory. Bathythermograms were taken regularly to depths of 270 meters and hydrographic casts to 125 meters. All four sections of observations indicated similar patterns of upwelling. During the pasage of the hurricane it appears that sea surface temperatures over an area of some 70 by 220 miles decreased by more than 5C, and that a cyclonic ocean current system was established around this area. The data collected on the GUS cruise appear to be the first systematic oceanographic observations available in such a situation. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0615539
Entities
People
- Dale F. Leipper
Organizations
- Texas A&M University