On This Date: Tropical Depression Forms, Then Hits Texas As Category 4 Hurricane Celia Days Later—
A Caribbean tropical depression that formed on this date 55 years ago went on to rapidly intensify and make a devastating Category 4 strike on Texas just days later.
After developing just west of the Cayman Islands on the evening of July 30, 1970, the tropical depression would strengthen into Hurricane Celia and make landfall with winds of 140 mph at Aransas Pass, Texas, on Aug. 3. Much of that intensification happened rapidly just prior to reaching the Texas coast, where winds jumped by 60 mph in the 15 hours
Celia ravaged Corpus Christi with destructive winds, where a gust up to 161 mph was measured. Closer to the landfall point, Aransas Pass had an estimated gust to 180 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
