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Tropical Storm Felice was a modest tropical cyclone that lightly impacted parts of the Gulf Coast of the United States in mid-September 1970. Spawned by an upper-level trough over the Bahamas, the system crossed the Florida Keys and entered the Gulf of Mexico, where it gradually began to strengthen. Felice was a disorganized storm for its entire duration, plagued by dry air, a lack of deep thunderstorm activity, and an ill-defined center of circulation, but nevertheless managed to peak as a high-end tropical storm with winds just below Category 1 hurricane strength. Tracking northwestward, the storm brushed southern Louisiana on September 15 before making landfall northeast of Galveston, Texas, late that same day. Once ashore, Felice quickly deteriorated as it recurved into the central United States. While over southeastern Oklahoma, however, its remnants still closely resembled a formidable tropical cyclone. In advance of the cyclone, officials prompted residents in vulnerable communities to leave their homes, and temporary storm shelters were established. However, the effects from Felice were generally light. Beneficial rains fell over parts of southern Florida, while sections of coastal Louisiana experienced minimal gale-force winds and above-normal tides. Winds gusting to at Galveston—and estimated near 70 mph (110 km/h) elsewhere—caused scattered power outages and minor tree damage, while heavy rainfall totaling over triggered some street flooding. Felice delayed the local rice harvest and damaged some hay that had been cut before the storm. Significant precipitation and gusty winds accompanied the system into northern Texas and Oklahoma. Overall, the storm left no fatalities or widespread property damage anywhere along its path. ==Meteorological history== Developing as a tropical depression near Nassau in the Bahamas on September 12, Felice had its origins in a persistent upper-level trough over the area. The nascent depression tracked slowly toward the west-southwest without much intensification, ultimately passing just north of Key West, Florida as it entered the Gulf of Mexico. Over the open waters of the Gulf, the system accelerated toward the west-northwest along the southern periphery of a large ridge of high pressure to the north.〔〔 While reconnaissance aircraft data on the storm suggested that the depression strengthened into a tropical storm midday on September 14, the official Atlantic tropical cyclone database known as HURDAT indicates the disturbance attained tropical storm status at 0000 UTC on September 15.〔 Despite continued gradual intensification, Felice remained disorganized as it approached the northern Gulf Coast at forward speeds of up to .〔〔 The storm's center came within range of the weather radar site at New Orleans, Louisiana, resulting in close observation of the storm's progress. Felice suffered from restricted outflow and a nebulous circulation, marked by the appearance of two centers.〔 Near daybreak on September 15, a more distinct center had apparently formed to the west-northwest of the storm's initial core, which reportedly dissipated. Operationally, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center believed a surge of southerly inflow transported a significant amount of atmospheric vorticity away from the old center of low pressure, allowing for a new surface-based circulation to form. Indeed, a special off-hour advisory was issued to identify the storm's new location. However, post-season analysis of Felice determined that due to the cyclone's disheveled nature, as well as technical problems at the time of observation, the center relocation could not be conclusively proven; as a result, the official storm path does not reflect any significant jogs.〔 Felice moved nearly parallel to the southern coast of Louisiana as it began to show signs of improved structure.〔〔 It reached its peak intensity as a high-end tropical storm with winds of at 0000 UTC on September 16, while located about 100 mi south of Lafayette.〔 Dry continental air from the north likely prevented Felice from reaching Category 1 hurricane strength. Even as a strong tropical storm, Felice lacked deep convection typical of mature tropical cyclones. Shortly after peaking, Felice moved ashore at High Island, Texas—about to the northeast of Galveston—during the evening hours of September 15 local time. The storm rapidly deteriorated once over land and slowed in forward speed.〔 Curving toward the northwest, Felice passed near Houston and weakened into a tropical depression.〔〔 The diminishing system turned northward through north-central Texas late on September 16 and entered southeastern Oklahoma by September 17. Although Felice officially dissipated at 1200 UTC on September 17,〔 its remnants retained a structure very similar to that of a healthy tropical cyclone, as depicted by radar imagery from the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman. Distinct rainbands harbored a noticeable eye feature, which passed about southeast of Norman. Two aircraft flew into the area to collect data on the unique storm; notably, they found the system still had a warm core compared to its environment. Throughout the day on September 17, the remnants of Felice continued to weaken. The residual surface low recurved toward the east-northeast over Oklahoma and Arkansas before fully dissipating after September 19. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tropical Storm Felice」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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