Local Climate Investigation Climate Investigation Thesis

"The Great Storm reigns today as the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Between 10,000 and 12,000 people died during the storm...the added toll on commercial structures created a monetary loss of $30 million, about $700 million in today's dollars" (Smith 2003).

A more recent powerful tropical system that affected the Texas coast was that of Hurricane Carla. Carla illustrated how storms are particularly damaging to the low-lying areas of Texas near the Gulf Coast. "Carla's circulation enveloped the entire Gulf of Mexico with fringe effects along all Gulf Coast states," and one-half million residents of the area had to be evacuated to higher ground ("Texas Hurricane History," 2008, USA Today).

Because of its location in the Southeast, Houston is subject to the El Nino effect, the climate changes that occur because of variations in water temperature in the Pacific Ocean. El Nino years tend to have higher levels of precipitation in the spring months, and to be colder in the fall and winter and warmer in the spring.

Works Cited

About our office." (2008). National Weather Service (NWS). Retrieved 12 Aug 2008 at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hgx/office.htm

The Great Christmas Eve Snow Storm." (2004) National Weather Service Forecast Office

NWS). Retrieved 12 Aug 2008. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hgx/projects/xmasevesnow04.htm

Houston." (2008). Environmental Protection agency EPA. Retrieved 12 Aug 2008 at http://www.epa.gov/hiri/pilot/houston.html

Houston/Galveston." (2008). National Weather Service Forecast Office. Retrieved 12 Aug 2008 at: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/srh/srnews/index.htm

Hurricane Carla." (2008). National Weather Service Forecast Office. Retrieved 12 Aug 2008 http://www.srh.noaa.gov/crp/docs/research/hurrhistory/Carla/carla.html

Monthly weather for Houston." (2008). The Weather Channel. Retrieved 12 Aug 2008 at http://www.weather.com/outlook/health/allergies/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/77005?from=text_bottomnav_allergies

Smith, Michael. (2003). "Post-storm rebuilding considered 'Galveston's finest hour.'" Daily

News. Retrieved 12 Aug 2008 at http://www.1900storm.com/rebuilding/index.lasso

Texas Hurricane History." (2008). USA Today. Retrieved 12 Aug 2008 at http://www.usatoday.com/weather/hurricane/history/whtexas.htm

Turner, Allan. (6 Jun 2003). "Two years later, tropical storm's fury still felt in debilitated neighborhood." The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 12 Aug 2008. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/storm2001/1939745.html

Wet Southeast and Gulf Coast." (2008). NCDC.gov. Retrieved 12 Aug 2008 at http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/elnino/gulfcoast.html.....