As this year marks the 15th year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I wanted to bring up something that has bugged my scientific mind since I was seven. Katrina was kept at a category 4 at landfall until December 2005, yet if you look at information that came from weather stations in Plaquemines Parish, the highest sustained winds were found to be 141 mph in Buras before the anemometer stopped working, shortly after landfall. I remember watching the radar as it came up the Mississippi Sound and it never lost it's structure, including getting a convective burst just east of St. Bernard Parish. By the time it made landfall at the border, according to my grandfather who was here in Pearl River, the winds were about 126, which correlates to what the NHC said. Can anybody shed light on this for me, and do you all think it possible that it is upgraded again when the re-analysis is done in a few years?
As this year marks the 15th year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I wanted to bring up something that has bugged my scientific mind since I was seven. Katrina was kept at a category 4 at landfall until December 2005, yet if you look at information that came from weather stations in Plaquemines Parish, the highest sustained winds were found to be 141 mph in Buras before the anemometer stopped working, shortly after landfall. I remember watching the radar as it came up the Mississippi Sound and it never lost it's structure, including getting a convective burst just east of St. Bernard Parish. By the time it made landfall at the border, according to my grandfather who was here in Pearl River, the winds were about 126, which correlates to what the NHC said. Can anybody shed light on this for me, and do you all think it possible that it is upgraded again when the re-analysis is done in a few years?
I’m sure it’s possible. The problem is that the surge pretty much destroyed any wind damage evidence to be investigated. If a properly installed and reliable anemometer in Buras recorded a sustained wind of 141 then they’ll likely eventually study satellite and radar evidence there at that particular time.
Upgrade or not though, Katrina was devastating on a scale never really seen before.
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While we're looking forward to the start of hurricane season, Wunderground is out today with the possibility of a La Nina developing just in time for the season, which would possibly mean increased activity. They make the caveat that it's too early to predict with any certainty, but we are three months out now, so it's interesting to speculate.
I say it every year but I just can’t believe the last time the southeastern part of Louisiana was affected by a big storm was in 2008 with Gustav. That’s a long time between big ones for us. There were 13 years between Andrew and Katrina and now this year will be 12 years since Gustav. I know Isaac caused a good bit of flooding for some folks but overall Isaac wasn’t a “big one” in my opinion (I know those who were affected would disagree).
I think our luck runs out this year. I’m getting a new, bigger generator this spring and having an electrician get the house set up for me to just plug it into the main breaker and use things like the lights, washer/dryer, and fridge/freezer, and a couple window units.
)) but I can’t freaking wait for this season to get started! 
