Hurricane Kate - Indian Pass, Florida - November 21, 1985

[omgthisiscrazy1]

I am so glad you captured a lot of wind and the trees swaying like crazy. It was awesome.

[larry2043]

Great video, Michael!!!!!!

[moe405]

Wow this was filmed in 1985 and the quality is this good. Incredible. I bow down to thee. Incredible footage

[vmax135]

@moe405 Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the clip and like the re-mastered quality.

[thetaker5648]

@vmax135 how did your car even stay on 4 wheels in 212 miles per hour winds.but anyway for 1985 that is some extreme footage u have got there. well done man. =)

[vmax135]

@thetaker5648 LOL..thanks so much! Chasing a significant hurricane in a car is definitely challenging, but with Kate the biggest threat we encountered was storm surge, which wound up stalling our car for a period of time (I didn't include that portion of my footage in this clip). As for the winds in Kate, peak gusts were about 100-105 mph where we were, if they'd been up around 200 mph our car (us included) would have been flying along with everything else. :)

[thetaker5648]

@thetaker5648 you must off been very scared at the time.

[TornadoWarning]

What a year! Gloria and then good 'ole Kate. I was 9 years old but I remember this like it was yesterday. Great footage Michael!

[vmax135]

@TornadoWarning Thank you so much!!! The '85 season was incredible. Glad you enjoyed the clip.

[NovaGypsy]

A Video clip from 1985 and it's in 1080p Full HD?.. And some people can't even get 480p these days.. shame on you..

[vmax135]

@NovaGypsy Thanks so much!!! Glad you like the re-mastered quality! :)

[DEnumber73]

chuck norris went for an evening drive

[MsBest450]

It seems no matter the year Micheal you always had the best camras around!!! :).Awesome quality (especially for 1985) as always.

[vmax135]

@MsBest450 Thank you so much!!! I'm really glad you enjoyed the clip. :)

[Springbok295]

I was 18 and living in Tallahassee. This video took me back. Strangely enough I didn't even know a hurricane was coming our way until the day before.

[vmax135]

@Springbok295 Yeah, in late November most people aren't thinking about hurricanes anymore. I'm sure Kate took quite a few people by surprise, especially considering how strong it was for so late in the season. And with the ground still over saturated from Hurricane Elena's extended impact on the area two months prior, it was much easier for trees to be uprooted during Kate. When we left the area, we saw extensive tree damage continue well inland, all the way through Tallahassee.

[wdwolfe09]

You cease to amaze me. Awesome re-master. I love the deteriorating road; truly shows the energy associated with these beasts.

[vmax135]

@wdwolfe09 Thank you so much, Warren!!! I'm glad you enjoyed the clip... Kate was an absolutely incredible experience!

[tornadovideostock]

That was awesome! From 3min onward it got insane! I remember this day very well as it was just a few months prior that my interest in weather was peaked. I had a paper hurricane tracking chart and was plotting Kate's position via NOAA weather radio. I was still only 13 years old at the time. Great job as always Michael!

[vmax135]

@tornadovideostock Thanks so much, Scott!!! Kate's strength really was surprising, especially for such a late season landfall. And yeah, I remember those days of paper tracking charts and NOAA radio broadcasts (recorded by actual people) well... lol. 

[larry2043]

Wow---well done, Michael!!!!!!!!!!

[vmax135]

@larry2043 Thank you so much, Larry! Glad you enjoyed the clip!

[larry2043]

@vmax135 You are very welcome, Michael!!!!!!!!!!!

[Zima4184]

Strength, power, admire.

[vmax135]

@Zima4184 Thank you so much!!! I'm glad you enjoyed the clip.

[huracanado1]

Michael, a clip of the event of the car stalling out would be really amazing. Plus hearing Jim cursing will certainly be hilarious! LOL

[vmax135]

@huracanado1 HAHA... yeah, you can just imagine the conversation between Jim and I at that point...lol. Anyway, I'll definitely edit something together and get it up for you guys to see.

[StormChaserMax]

Wow - I love the look of those Florida pines bending half way down to the ground. I've been curious to see your Kate footage for awhile, especially considering my new obsession with off-season hurricanes.

But I wonder, where you filming when the surge surrounded the car you and Jim were in? I remember you telling me that was your most frightening hurricane moment.

[vmax135]

@StormChaserMax I know, right! Towards the end of the clip (at 5:30 especially) those slash pines are really leaning way far over. The extra saturated ground (Elena had spent so much time over the same general area two months prior) really resulted in a ton of uprooted (versus snapped) trees. I'm surprised more didn't go over in the immediate vicinity of our car.

[vmax135]

As for the problem we had with the surge, I did film the event (which occurred just after the segment from 2:14 to 2:29 in this video), but I chose not to include it for a few reasons. My camera-work at that point is pretty bad (I wasn't paying attention to filming when the car stalled out), and Jim's and my dialog isn't the most flattering, lol. Also, I didn't want to slow down the build up to the storm's peak in this clip. I am going to try to edit a shorter clip just around that scene.

[huracanado1]

This is a beautiful summary for such a historic event. Needless to say again, great job, Michael! That was intense!

[vmax135]

@huracanado1 Thanks so much, Jose!!! Kate really was a historic storm in a lot of ways.

[Turkeydoodlers]

Geesh listen to that wind roar. Always enjoy your good footage Mike

[vmax135]

@Turkeydoodlers Thanks so much!!! I'm glad you liked the clip.

[CycloneJosh]

Really great footage-- looked like a mean storm. I was looking forward to this footage-- when you mentioned you were remastering it-- and it didn't disappoint. Given your great location, this is great documentation of Kate's punch. It gets especially good around 2:35 to the end. Great audio, by the way-- has that total hurricane sound. (Did all the '85 'canes give great audio? ;) )

[vmax135]

@CycloneJosh Thank you so much, Josh!!! I'm really gald you enjoyed it... I just wish my videography skills had been a little more honed back then (it was a struggle finding reasonably steady clips...lol). Anyway, yeah the '85 storms all produced great audio... though the howling/whistling occurred more with Gloria and Kate, since we were right next to powerlines for both of those. Elena (with the strongest winds of the three) was more of just a deep roaring sound where we were.

[liquidstl]

Fantastic video! Great shots that I haven't seen before.

[vmax135]

@liquidstl Thanks so much, Chris!!! Yeah, Kate's been hiding away for quite awhile now... lol. I'm glad the recent change to give it the honor of being the latest landfalling U.S. hurricane motivated me to edit and post my footage.

[LDCTSTORMCHASER]

Awesome stuff Michael! Really wish I could have chased the 85 season. Well, that and 1900, 1926, 1928, 1935, 1938, etc... lol

[vmax135]

@LDCTSTORMCHASER Thank you so much, Greg!!! And yeah, someone REALLY needs to invent a commercially available time machine sometime soon...lol. :)

[vmax135]

@NathansWeatherVideos Thanks so much, Nathan!!! Yeah, the 1985 season was filled with surprises, and Kate was no exception... especially its strength. Pretty impressive for a late November landfall. Glad you liked the clip.

[pontiac51]

Awesome! It looked like that tree came down right in front of you. Nothing like shooting in the woods at the beach... lol.

[vmax135]

@pontiac51 Thanks, Rob!!! Yeah, with the ground still so saturated from Elena's passage two months before, pine trees were coming down all over the place during Kate. Jim and I got our car stuck in the mud several times trying to get around them. I was definitely cursing being in the woods that night... lol.

[L12weather]

Wow, amazing video!!!

[vmax135]

@L12weather Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed the clip!