Hurricane Anita

Mexico, August 29–September 2, 1977 

While Anita remains one of the most intense Category 4 hurricanes on record, it is better remembered for its positive influence on the study of cyclonic weather systems. Before Anita crashed into the sparsely inhabited southwestern Mexico coast on September 2, 1977, it was the subject of the most comprehensive scientific investigation into the mechanics of hurricanes yet attempted. For three days, Anita was tracked across the Gulf of Mexico by a squadron of research organizations, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Hurricane Center (NHC), and Texas A&M University. Dozens of experiments, ranging from an examination of sea temperatures to a laser analysis of precipitation levels, were performed on the hurricane with significant success. Data collected from Anita conclusively answered a number of vital questions concerning hurricane-strengthening patterns and forever changed the fundamental model meteorologists have of hurricane structure and activity.

The first storm of an unusually quiet hurricane season, Anita originated over the tepid waters of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, 250 miles (402 km) southwest of St. Petersburg, Florida, on August 29, 1977. Moving in a westerly direction at nearly 10 MPH (16 km/h), Anita spent nearly two days as a tropical storm before being upgraded to Category 1 status on the morning of September 1. As the storm’s central barometric pressure continued to fall—from 29.94 inches (1,012 mb) on August 29 to 28.44 inches (963 mb) on September 1—evacuation warnings were issued for the southern Gulf Coast of Texas. A helicopter fleet hurriedly evacuated personnel from offshore oil rigs, while 100,000 people, some as far north as Corpus Christi, Texas, secured their shoreline property against the possible threat of high winds and torrential rains and then headed inland to safety.

In the meantime, meteorologists from both the NOAA and the NHC quickly mobilized their resources to mount a full-scale scientific study of the burgeoning Anita. Specially modified hurricane hunting aircraft, such as the NEPTUNE P2V-3W, were dispatched to the storm’s location. There, high technology anemometers and barometers were systematically deployed to measure and record all aspects of Anita’s complex construction. At sea, Texas A&M University’s research vessel, the Gyre, bravely followed in Anita’s tumultuous wake. Seeking to provide evidence of a direct correlation between water temperature and a hurricane’s intensity, oceanographers aboard the Gyre used sensitive hydrometers to analyze sea temperature at various depths. They also made detailed observations regarding the state of the sea in a hurricane, recording the height and shape of the waves on the storm’s outer flanks.