Talk:Hurricane Laura

Question about records (Laura, 1856 Last Island hurricane, and...Camille?)

@Cyclonebiskit, Destroyeraa, TornadoLGS, DachshundLover82, Allen2, Jason Rees, Hurricanehuron33, CrazyC83, MarioProtIV, Gummycow, Super Cyclonic Storm Corona, Wikicanada1127, and Hurricaneboy23: So I was rewriting the Meteorological history of Hurricane Laura to make it consistent with the TCR and came across this:

Laura was the strongest hurricane to strike Louisiana since Hurricane Camille of 1969 (which produced category 5 conditions over the southeastern part of the state).

Now I'm kind of curious. I incorporated both the 1856 Last Island hurricane (which is the one we're comparing Laura to) and Hurricane Camille (the one the NHC is comparing Laura to) into the following sentences:

Turning almost due north, Laura made its final landfall near Cameron, Louisiana around 06:00 UTC with 150 mph (240 km/h) winds and a pressure of 939 mbars (27.73 inches). The wind speed made Laura the first Category 4 hurricane to ever hit southwestern Louisiana since the 1856 Last Island hurricane as well as the strongest hurricane to hit the state since Hurricane Camille in 1969 (which produced Category 5 conditions over the southeastern portion of the state).

However, I'm still wondering about whether or not we should keep the record in comparison to the 1956 Last Island, the record in comparison to Camille, or both. For me, its both. Thoughts? ChessEric (talk · contribs) 01:31, 1 June 2021 (UTC)

Both. Camille produced category 5 conditions in extreme SE Louisiana in unpopulated territory even though there is no listed landfall. Although an argument could be made that it was a landfall on some of the Chandeleur Islands and marshy St. Bernard Parish islands which are all marshlands, it's not listed as such in HURDAT2. CrazyC83 (talk) 03:06, 1 June 2021 (UTC)

I feel that the comparison to the 1856 hurricane is trivial and misleading, as you are saying that no other tropical cyclones have impacted the Southwestern Louisana while at Cat 4 intensity since 1856. That means for example that Katrina did not impact Louisana before it made landfall on August 29, 2005 even though it was a Cat 4 barely 5 hours before its first landfall on Lousiana. As a result, I would vote for the strongest tropical cyclone option as it seems more reliable and has not been made up by the media.Jason Rees (talk) 15:46, 1 June 2021 (UTC)

Katrina was a cat 3 though at landfall/impact (HURDAT has it at LA3), so it was weaker anyway. The last cat 4 in the state was Betsy but that was at the low end of the category (130 mph vs. 150 mph for Laura). CrazyC83 (talk) 05:38, 2 June 2021 (UTC)

@CrazyC83: I'm surprised that I have to say this but we don't define impact as when a system made landfall, since there are so many systems that don't make landfall but still impact land by producing rain etc. As a result, Katrina might have been a C3 at landfall at 11:10 on August 29, but it almost certainly impacted the state while a C4 if not a C5 during August 29. Also, you introducing Betsy to the mix as supposedly the last C4 to impact the state, just shows how poor, trivial and misleading the 1856 record is imo.Jason Rees (talk) 09:45, 2 June 2021 (UTC)

Just a note on this topic: the NHC said that Katrina hit Louisiana as a Cat 3. However, they also said cat 4 winds impacted the state before it weakened to cat 3 status.ChessEric (talk · contribs) 19:07, 2 June 2021 (UTC)

At the end of the day @ChessEric: NHC are wrong if they are saying that Katrina hit Louisana as a Cat 3 unless they are referring to its landfall, unless of course the impacts before the landfall on August 29 at 11:10 amazingly don't count. There is a reason why NHC arent shouting about Laura's so called record :)Jason Rees (talk) 21:03, 2 June 2021 (UTC)

@Jason Rees: I gotcha. And yes, I was referring to the Cat 3 landfall. The max winds in Louisiana were briefly Cat 4, which the NHC acknowledged.ChessEric (talk · contribs) 03:21, 7 June 2021 (UTC)

@ChessEric: At the end of the day, Katrina may not have made landfall as a Cat 4, but it still hit/impacted SW Louisana as a Cat 4/5 before making landfall. As a result, I am convinced that the record is misleading and thus am tempted to remove it.Jason Rees (talk) 18:13, 14 June 2021 (UTC)

@Jason Rees: I'm not so sure about that one. The storm was borderline Cat 4 on its approach to Louisiana and I HIGHLY doubt there being Cat 5 winds there. Seems a bit too high imo. ChessEric (talk · contribs) 19:42, 14 June 2021 (UTC)

@ChessEric: Let me make it as clear as I can for you: The record we are talking about states that Laura was the first Category 4 hurricane to hit SW Louisana since 1856. However, unless the impacts that Katrina caused in the 12 hours before it made landfall don't count, the system hit/impacted SW Louisana as a Category 4 if not a 5. If they don't count I would like to know why as on Wiki the term hit is used in place of impacted as far as I know, since tropical cyclones don't always make landfall on an island nation, but still hit them with gale-force winds, heavy rainfall etc even when they pass offshore. As a result, I am even more convinced that the record is misleading and am extremely tempted to remove it.Jason Rees (talk) 20:30, 14 June 2021 (UTC)

Katrina had no impact on SW Louisiana. Katrina was SE Louisiana and I don’t believe LA felt any cat 5 winds from Katrina.

The 2005 storm that hit SW Louisiana was Rita. Rita was stronger than Katrina but much smaller Rita was strengthening as she approached SW Louisiana/TX state line until hours before landfall she started a eyeball replacement and strength dropped But SW LA definitely saw much stronger winds than from Katrina.

the difference with Laura is she struck as a Cat 4 and Cat 3/4 winds were felt farther inland 64.42.157.70 (talk) 18:36, 9 October 2024 (UTC)

@Jason Rees: Ahhhhhh...I get it now. Thanks for the clarification. Question: would you remove both records or just one of them? ChessEric (talk · contribs) 21:07, 14 June 2021 (UTC)

@ChessEric: The only record that needs to go is the one that says "Laura [was] the first Category 4 hurricane to ever hit southwestern Louisiana since the 1856 Last Island hurricane" as I believe that the other one makes more sense and is directly backed up by NHC.Jason Rees (talk) 21:34, 14 June 2021 (UTC)

@Jason Rees: Gotcha. I would be fine with that. Additionally, an EXACT definition of what part of Louisiana are in the southwestern part of the state is IMPOSSIBLE to make imo. ChessEric (talk · contribs) 22:18, 14 June 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 19 August 2023

Please add under preparations that an Angels-Astros game was postponed due to the weather. Source: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29739023/angels-astros-game-wednesday-postponed-hurricane-laura-approaches 152.179.246.14 (talk) 09:53, 19 August 2023 (UTC)

 Done Xan747 ✈️ 🧑‍✈️ 22:42, 25 August 2023 (UTC)

Hertz tower implosion

The Hertz tower a.k.a. Cap One tower, a 21 story glass bldg was recently imploded. The tower was massively damaged by Laura and 4 yrs later was imploded. The hurricane damage was so extensive that the cost of repairs exceeded the rebuilt value

inserting this info into the Laura article adds context of the inland strength 64.42.157.70 (talk) 18:24, 9 October 2024 (UTC)