Dear Tom,
I lived in New Orleans from 1940-1947 and don’t remember experiencing any hurricanes. Were there any in the area then?
Dorothy Collins, Deerfield
Dear Dorothy,
There were quite a few hurricanes and tropical storms that moved through the Gulf of Mexico during that period, and at least four tropical storms had some impact on New Orleans. However, only one hurricane hit the city in that time frame and that was in September 1947. On Sept. 19, Hurricane #4 (the storms were not named until 1953) struck the New Orleans area with winds up to 90 m.p.h.
The storm followed a path just north of Katrina’s, crossing southern Florida near Naples and then taking direct aim at the Crescent City. Before reaching Florida, the storm was a Category 5, but it weakened prior to crossing the peninsula and continued to diminish as it approached New Orleans.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or asktomwhy@wgntv.com (Mail volume precludes personal response.)
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
