Hurricane Frederic - Radar Loops

Here are some really cool radar loops of Hurricane Frederic's landfall at the Alabama/Mississippi border on September 12, 1979. The loops are from the Slidell, Louisiana WSR-57 radar. The first is a long-range loop, the second a short-range close up. Frederic made landfall as a strong Category Three with sustained winds of 130mph and a minimum central pressure of 943mb(27.85in). At the time, Frederic was the costliest hurricane in U.S. history.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Hurricane
• Frederic
• Severe
• Weather
• Storms
• Tropical
• Cyclone
• Alabama
• Mississippi
• Hurricanes
• 1979
• Disaster
• Radar
• Loops

[PelicanGuy]

You're sure that was the Mobile radar? It looked more like the Slidell/New Orleans radar?

[vmax135]

Thanks, Buford... you're correct, this sequence is from the Slidell site. I've corrected the description.

[zakkwylder01]

I'm stunned. I was 17 when I survived Frederic with my best friends. Some of us still bear the scars. My brother was lost from fire due to lightning as an off shoot of the storm, 75 miles north of Mobile.

This brings up deep emothions.

Thank you vmax135 for posting!

[vmax135]

Thank you for the comment Zak, I'm so sorry about your brother.

[liquidstl]

hmmm its eyewall structure kinda reminds me of Rita in 2005, and the big eye kinda like Wilma a few yrs ago too.

(btw did u see the wilma loop that had a number two in the eye??)

[vmax135]

Hey Chris - Yeah, the organizational structure of several hurricanes on radar (like Rita) are reminicent of this Frederic loop... especially if the storm has just completed an eyewall replacement cycle, with a strengthening outer-eyewall. I just did an analysis between this loop and some recent radar images from Hugo's landfall from San Juan, Puerto Rico's radar and the similarities are striking.

[ericlenz]

@ericlenz yep i was on my sons youtube! ha ha, no, he is named after my dad!

[ericlenz]

i was 10 years old. i live in elberta which is in baldwin county. this is definately where the most damage occurred. all i can say is, there used to be a lot more pine trees, then hurricane frederic came a long. it looked like someone had trown a box of matches on the road. we lost a 300+ year old oak.

[Frederick13rl]

i was 10 years old. i live in elberta which is in baldwin county. this is definately where the most damage occurred. all i can say is, there used to be a lot more pine trees, then hurricane frederic came a long. it looked like someone had trown a box of matches on the road. we lost a 300+ year old oak.

[Baxteronsteroids]

I stay at Fort Morgan, Alabama all of the time on vacation. Even today you can still see many pilings sticking up with the houses ripped off.

[PaulsDena]

I was 18 and at a Hurricane Party on South Monterey St. in midtown Mobile. By the time we arrived we knew that we had to stay where we were and wait for the storm to pass. A 200 year old oak fell on the house we were in and we actually walked out during the storm and held onto each other to keep from being blown about. I can still feel the acorns hitting me at 100+ mph. The day after we rode to the causeway and thru town and saw first hand the massive destuction. It made me cry.

[RVP57]

I was in Arkansas but my dad rode it out in Mobile. We talked intermitently until the lines went down. I could hear the roar over the phone. My uncle lost his beach house at Ft Morgan, but rebuilt and the current one has survived everything since. I was just there on holiday (I live in London). The Alabama Coast is indeed Paradise, but with a price!

[GUYPRO30]

i rode the storm out on keesler afb, biloxi, i was 18 then..lol. im 47!. tornados did alot of damage in our court. 2928 passroad, some had trees in them , ours was ok, screendoor and light damage, we were fortunate, still have still photo of the aftermath, our neighbor rode out the big one that came through 10 yrs earlier to the day i think,,,camile?,,not sure of name at hand, well, cool video, !

[alagumbo]

Yeah, I have a cousin that stayed there with her family. She said she would never stay in a motel during a hurricane again.

I stayed in Irvington,Al. but my home is further south. Everything was torn up. Pine trees snapped everywhere.