Dear Tom,
When I was a kid, there was a hurricane named Audrey that came through Chicago. When was this?
Jim Wyman Crystal Lake
Dear Jim,
Over the years, The Chicago area has been affected by the remnants of at least 15 tropical cyclones, and while Audrey was a powerhouse hurricane, it was not one of them. Audrey formed in the Bay of Campeche in the southern Gulf of Mexico on June 24, 1957 and reached hurricane strength in about 24 hours. Audrey became a Category 4 hurricane with top winds of 150 mph, making landfall near Sabine Pass on the Texas-Louisiana border on June 27. Audrey generated an 8-12 foot storm surge that was the primary cause of the storm’s 390 fatalities. Audrey’s remnants moved northeast through Tennessee and Kentucky and eventually merged with low pressure over the eastern Great Lakes, bringing wind and rain to the Northeast and eastern Canada.