Marine Hurricane/Typhoon — Corpus Christi To Baffin Bay, Gulf of Mexico

2020-07-25 · Corpus Christi To Baffin Bay, Gulf of Mexico

Event narrative

Mesonet data along the coast and radar data observed hurricane conditions south of Corpus Christi. Surge associated with Hurricane Hanna damaged navigation markers in the Corpus Christi ship channel.

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Hanna was the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic Basin hurricane season and made landfall on the lower Texas coast north of Port Mansfield on the afternoon of the 25th. Hanna was the first hurricane to make landfall in Texas since Hurricane Harvey.

Hanna began as a tropical wave, first noted for possible development when it was near Hispaniola on the 19th. The tropical wave moved northwest across Cuba into the central Gulf of Mexico where it became a tropical depression on the morning of the 22nd. Tropical Storm Hanna formed late in the evening on the 23rd as it moved west-northwest over the central Gulf of Mexico. Hanna continued to strengthen and became a hurricane on the morning of the 25th around 100 miles east of the Middle Texas coast. Hurricane Hanna turned to the southwest and made landfall north of Port Mansfield, late in the afternoon on the 25th with a peak intensity of 90 mph and a central pressure of 973 millibars.

Hurricane force winds moved across the coastal waters south of Port Aransas while tropical storm force winds occurred over the coastal waters north of Port Aransas. Wave heights rose to 20 feet over the Gulf waters according to offshore buoys. Surge damaged the navigation markers and aids along the Corpus Christi ship channel.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 912760. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.