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Hurricane Agnes

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Hurricane Agnes
Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Agnes approaching Florida
FormedJune 14, 1972
DissipatedJune 25, 1972
Highest winds1-minute sustained: 85 mph (140 km/h)
Lowest pressure977 mbar (hPa); 28.85 inHg
Fatalities129 direct
Damage$2.1 billion (1972 USD)
Areas affectedYucatan Peninsula, western Cuba, Florida Panhandle, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York
Part of the 1972 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Agnes was the first tropical storm and first hurricane of the 1972 Atlantic hurricane season. A rare June hurricane, it made landfall on Florida before moving northeastward and hitting New England as a tropical storm, with the worst damage occurring in parts of northeastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York. Agnes brought heavy rainfall along its path, killing 129 and causing $11.6 billion (2005 US dollars) in damage. At the time, it was the most damaging hurricane ever recorded, surpassing Hurricane Betsy, and it would not be surpassed until Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

Storm history

Map plotting the storm's track and intensity, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
Map key
Saffir–Simpson scale
  Tropical depression (≤38 mph, ≤62 km/h)
  Tropical storm (39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h)
  Category 1 (74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h)
  Category 2 (96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h)
  Category 3 (111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h)
  Category 4 (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h)
  Category 5 (≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h)
  Unknown
Storm type
triangle Extratropical cyclone, remnant low, tropical disturbance, or monsoon depression

The large disturbance was first detected over the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico on June 14. The system drifted eastward and became a tropical depression later that day and a tropical storm over the northwestern Caribbean on the 16th. Agnes turned northward on June 17 and became a hurricane over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico the next day. A continued northward motion brought Agnes to the Florida Panhandle coast on June 19 as a Category 1 hurricane.

Agnes turned northeastward after landfall and weakened to a depression over Georgia. However, it regained tropical storm strength over eastern North Carolina on June 21 and moved into the Atlantic later that day. A northwestward turn followed, and a just-under-hurricane-strength Agnes made a final landfall on June 22 near New York City. The storm merged with a non-tropical low on June 23, with the combined system affecting the northeastern United States until June 25. [1]

Impact

Agnes Rainfall Across the East

Agnes was barely a hurricane at landfall in Florida, and the effects of winds and storm surges were relatively minor. The major impact was over the northeastern United States, where Agnes combined with the non-tropical low to produce widespread rains of 6 to 12 inches with local amounts up to 19 inches in western Schuylkill County in Pennsylvania [2]. These rains produced widespread severe flooding from Virginia northward to New York, with other flooding occurring over the western portions of the Carolinas. (from Hurricane Agnes Rainfall and Floods, June-July 1972)

Death Tolls by Area
Area Deaths
Cuba 9
Florida 9
North Carolina 2
Virginia 13
Delaware 1
Maryland 19
New Jersey 1
New York 24
Pennsylvania 48
Total 126

The worst flooding was along the Genesee River, the Canisteo River, and the Chemung River in southwestern and south central New York. The latter two flowed into the Susquehanna River which was already swollen due to winter snow runoff, and flooding continued all the way down this river. It set a flood record at, and threatened to overtop, the Conowingo Dam near the mouth of the Susquehanna in Maryland. The worst damage occurred in Elmira, New York and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, but many other communities along the rivers suffered great losses. The Delaware River and Potomac River basins also had some flooding. So much fresh water was flushed into Chesapeake Bay that its seafood industry was badly damaged for several years. [3]

File:Sptimesagnes1972.jpg
Agnes's rains were felt as far away as the west-central coast of Florida, and flooded Pinellas County.

Rainfall in the Piedmont region of Virginia caused extensive flooding in the James River basin. Areas along the James west of Richmond and east of the Blue Ridge Mountains received massive amounts of rainfall that exceeded the rains of Hurricane Camille three years prior. The river experienced five-hundred year flooding levels, inundating downtown Richmond and causing millions of dollars in damages. [4] Extensive flooding was recorded even as far inland as Pittsburgh and throughout the Ohio River Valley, where rivers crested 11 feet above flood stage on June 24 after nearly a foot of rain fell in parts of Western Pennsylvania over the course of three days.[5]

Agnes caused 122 deaths in the United States. Nine of these were in Florida (mainly from severe thunderstorms) while the remainder were associated with the flooding. The storm was responsible for $2.1 billion in damage (1972 US dollars) in the United States, the vast majority of which came from the flooding [6]. Of this, over $2 billion was in Pennsylvania, and $750 million in New York[citation needed]. Agnes also affected western Cuba, where seven additional deaths occurred. After adjustment for inflation, Agnes is the seventh costliest storm in United States history with a total of $11.6 billion (2005 US dollars). [7]

Aftermath

Remnants of Agnes over northeastern United States

Agnes had a devastating impact on the already-bankrupt railroads in the northeastern United States, as lines were washed out and shipments were delayed, leading to the creation of the federally financed Conrail railroad system.

Retirement

See also: List of retired Atlantic hurricanes

The name Agnes was retired following this storm, so will not be reused for another Atlantic hurricane. [8]

See also

Template:Tcportal

References

World Wide Web

  1. ^ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1972-prelim/agnes/prelim05.gif
  2. ^ http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/rain/tcmaxima.html
  3. ^ http://bayville.thinkport.org/printables/timeline.pdf#search=%22chesapeake%20bay%20seafood%20agnes%22
  4. ^ http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-South/Richmond-Geography-and-Climate.html
  5. ^ http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/pao/h-agnes.htm
  6. ^ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gifs/table3a.gif
  7. ^ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gifs/table3b.gif
  8. ^ http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/B3.html

Books

J. F. Bailey, J. L. Patterson, and J. L. H. Paulhus. Geological Survey Professional Paper 924. Hurricane Agnes Rainfall and Floods, June-July 1972. United States Government Printing Office: Washington D.C., 1975.

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