The data for these tracks were extracted from this NOAA file listing 1,893 hurricanes for 1851-2018.
Tracks in the following images are labeled according to date, formatted as MM/YY (month/year).
Red tracks are where the hurricane exceeded 120 knots.
To enlarge or download an image, click on it.
The data for these tracks were extracted from this
NOAA file listing 1,893 hurricanes for 1851-2018.
The file was split into separate files, one per hurricane, using the following bash script (run under CYGWIN under Win10):
#!/bin/bash
IFS=,; while read a b c d; do
echo $a; touch $a.csv; IFS=;
for (( ; c > 0; c--)); do
read line; echo $line | grep 2...N,..\[89\]...W >> $a.csv
done; IFS=,
done
The grep command picked out the parts of the tracks within the GOM.
Another script then selected the 64 hurricanes with at least seven
points in the GOM and exceeding 120 knots there. These were then
loaded into MATLAB with the importdata command and processed to produced
the 8 images above, each with 8 tracks.
Some of the hurricanes that made landfall at a major city include:
Although Coriolis force in the Northern Hemisphere steers hurricanes clockwise, in the Gulf there is warm water fueling the hurricane's force as well as eddies in both directions, some of which can steer the hurricane counterclockwise as with the Galveston and Corpus Christi hurricanes, almost as though the Gulf had it in for those cities. Katrina (08/05) on the other hand could maintain a clockwise turn throughout and still hit New Orleans. Warm and cold fronts can also steer hurricanes.