Galveston Pirate's Beach Weather Station Located in Pirate's Beach, Galveston Texas Latitude: 29 degrees 12' N -- Longitude: 94 degrees 5' W

Hurricane Claudette Weather Charts Invaluable technical support provided by Rusty Ross

General Comments.
These charts show a significant, but not catastrophic weather event.

Landfall of the center of Hurricane Claudette was approximately 75 miles south of this weather station.

However, I can tell you from first hand experience of this event, that 50+ MPH winds get your full attention when you are out in it and when the house is swaying steadily on its high rise pilings.

The biggest issue was the 6+ foot storm surge with waves on top of that which did, in fact, cause catastrophic damage on the west end of Galveston Island.

The dune-sock barrier which exists in front of Pirates Beach certainly prevented a lot of that damage.

Within 1/2 mile east and west of the dune-sock barrier, many houses were destroyed by the storm surge and wave action, the degree and severity of which were highly underestimated by the weather forecasters.

Post mortem analysis of Claudette is now leaning towards classifying it as a Category 2 storm, stronger than first thought.