HURRICANE KATRINA was a Category 5 with 175mph wind before landfall. The eye crossed the Louisiana Delta on Monday August 29, 2005 at 6:10am in southern Plaquemines Parish, near the community of Buras as a high Category 3 with winds of 125mph. At the time of landfall the hurricane force winds extended up to 125 miles east AND 125 miles west of the center, stretching into the Florida panhandle, making it extremely devastating.
Katrina produced 62 tornadoes in eight states from Florida to Pennsylvania
The highest rainfall total recorded in Katrina was 16.33 inches in Perrine, FL; Big Branch, LA, recorded 14.92 inches of rainfall, the highest rainfall amount in Louisiana.
The highest measured wind gust during Katrina was 135 mph, recorded in Popularville, MS, before the instrument failed. Katrina produced wind gusts of 80 to 110 mph well inland over portions of southern, central, and eastern Mississippi. The highest reported wind gust in inland Mississippi was 114 mph in Ellisville.
The strongest official sustained wind in Louisiana during Katrina was 87 mph measured at the Grand Isle Coastal Marine Automated Network station. This station failed two hours before the eye passed nearby.
The maximum surge was 26 to 28 feet along the coast of Mississippi. The surge penetrated at least six miles inland in many portions of coastal Mississippi. The estimated storm surge in southeast Louisiana near New Orleans was 10 to 15 feet, and 10 to 12 feet along the coast of Alabama.
Read the full storm summary for Hurricane Katrina of wind, pressure and storm surge from the Mobile National Weather Service or from the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA You can also check another storm history on Katrina from the National Climatic Data Center. Katrina will go down in the record books for devastation, cost and fatalities. The National Hurricane Center also has the most current revised summaries of Katrina and other past major storms.
NOAA aerial photos of LA, MS & AL coasts after Katrina
More aerial coastal photos from NOAA
US Geological Survey New Orleans before and After Katrina
USGS before and after coastal images and hi res pictures
NASA’s images of Katrina and the science behind the storm
NOAA’s Significant Imagery of Katrina and other Gulf storms
NOAA impact assessment
Search US Air Force images of Katrina’s effects at Keesler AFB
Search for more Katrina photos in FEMA’s photo gallery
Aircraft images inside Katrina’s eye from NOAA
NOAA continues to keep track of the marine debris cleanup from Katrina. Check before you boat!
