Tropical Storm Elena was a weak

tropical storm A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

that moved ashore along

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in the

1979 Atlantic hurricane season The 1979 Atlantic hurricane season was the first season to include both male and female names, as well as the common six-year rotating lists of tropical cyclone names. The season officially began on June 1, and lasted until November 30 ...

. The sixth tropical storm of the season, Elena developed from a

tropical wave A tropical wave (also called easterly wave, tropical easterly wave, and African easterly wave), in and around the Atlantic Ocean, is a type of atmospheric trough, an elongated area of relatively low air pressure, oriented north to south, which ...

to the south of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

on August 29. It tracked generally west-northwest, strengthening little before making landfall on

Matagorda Island Matagorda Island (), ''Spanish for'' "thick brush," is a 38-mile (61 km) long barrier island on the Texas Gulf coast, located approximately south of Port O'Connor, in the southernmost part of Calhoun County. The traditional homeland of ...

on September 1 as a minimal tropical storm; the storm quickly dissipated over land. Elena dropped moderate rainfall along its path, causing two direct deaths in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

from drowning; storm damage was minor, amounting to less than $10 million (1979 USD, $28 million 2007 USD). Lightning from the storm set fire to an oil supertanker in Houston, causing three indirect deaths and 13 injuries.

Meteorological history

moved off the coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

on August 17. It tracked westward, passing through the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc betwe ...

on August 22, and on August 27 the weak wave axis crossed through

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. A tropical disturbance organized along the wave axis, with ship and buoy reports indicating the development of a low-level circulation by August 29. At 2308

GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...

later that day, a Hurricane Hunters flight reported the existence of a tropical depression; it was classified as Tropical Depression Thirteen, while located about south of the mouth of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. With a

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

of high pressure located over the southeastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the depression continued tracking generally westward and intensified into Tropical Storm Elena late on August 30. Elena was the sixth tropical storm of the season, as

Hurricane Frederic Hurricane Frederic was an intense and damaging tropical cyclone that carved a path of destruction from the Lesser Antilles to Quebec, in particular devastating areas of the United States Gulf Coast. Though only five were killed directly, the US$ ...

attained tropical storm status six hours prior to Elena. Unfavorable northerly vertical

wind shear Wind shear (or windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical or horizontal ...

persisted through much of Elena's duration, which prohibited the development of convection. An approaching frontal trough weakened the high pressure system to its north, which resulted in Elena turning northwestward toward the

coastline. The storm remained poorly organized, failing to strengthen further, and on September 1 it made

landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

as a minimal tropical storm. The cyclone rapidly weakened after moving ashore, and early on September 2 Elena degenerated into a remnant low pressure area over southeastern Texas. Trapped between two high pressure systems, the remnant mid-level circulation drifted southwestward just inland for several days before dissipating on September 6.

Impact

As Elena was upgraded to a tropical storm, the

National Hurricane Center The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 3 ...

issued a

gale warning A gale warning is an alert issued by national weather forecasting agencies around the world in an event that maritime locations currently or imminently experiencing winds of gale force on the Beaufort scale. Gale warnings (and gale watches) a ...

from

Port O'Connor, Texas Port O'Connor is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Calhoun County, Texas, United States, near the Gulf coastline between Galveston and Corpus Christi. The CDP had a population of 1,253 at the 2010 census. It is par ...

Morgan City, Louisiana Morgan City is a small city in St. Mary and lower St. Martin parishes in the U.S. State of Louisiana. The population was 12,404 at the 2010 census. Known for being “right in the middle of everywhere”, Morgan City is located 68 miles (109&nb ...

; these remained in effect until the storm moved ashore. Winds were fairly minor in association with the storm; a station in

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

recorded a peak wind gust of . As Elena moved ashore, it produced a storm tide at Galveston and

Baytown Baytown may refer to: * Baytown, Texas, a city in the United States near Houston, Texas *Baytown culture, an archaeological culture in the United States *Operation Baytown Operation Baytown was an Allied amphibious landing on the mainland o ...

. Rainfall from the storm was generally limited to the coastline, and peaked at at Palacios; light rainfall also extended along the coastline of

. Near

, of precipitation was reported, which caused two drownings from flooding. Overall storm damage was fairly minor, totaling to less than $10 million (1979 USD, $28 million 2007 USD). At a dock owned by

Shell Oil Company Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States-based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation " oil major" which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,000 ...

in Deer Park near Houston, a lightning bolt from thunderstorms of Elena struck the oil supertanker ''SS Chevron Hawaii''. The lightning started a fire on the ship, which expanded and wrecked one adjacent barge and burned nearby docks. The ship was nearly split in half from the lightning strike, and oil seeped into

Houston Ship Channel The Houston Ship Channel, in Houston, Texas, is part of the Port of Houston, one of the busiest seaports in the world. The channel is the conduit for ocean-going vessels between Houston-area terminals and the Gulf of Mexico, and it serves an incr ...

for several hours. Firefighters combated the fire on the tanker in boats, but their efforts were hindered due to unsettled weather from Elena, as well as unsafe water to travel through. The fire caused three deaths and 13 injuries, and damage related to the incident totaled $27 million (1979 USD, $76 million 2007 USD).

References

External links

Satellite loop of David, Elena, Frederic, and Gloria
{{1979 Atlantic hurricane season buttons

Elena Elena may refer to: People * Elena (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name * Joan Ignasi Elena (born 1968), Catalan politician * Francine Elena (born 1986), British poet Geography * Elena (town), a town in Veliko ...

Elena (1979) Elena (1979) Elena (1979) 1979 natural disasters in the United States

Meteorological history

Impact

See also

References

External links