Hurricane Claudette (2003)

This article is about the 2003 hurricane. For other storms of the same name, see List of storms named Claudette.

Hurricane Claudette
View of the storm from Space on July 15, 2003. The roughly circular storm is about to make landfall in Texas. Mexico and Louisiana are seen to the south and north, respectively.
Claudette shortly after landfall in Texas on July 15
Meteorological history
FormedJuly 8, 2003
DissipatedJuly 17, 2003
Category 1 hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds90 mph (150 km/h)
Lowest pressure979 mbar (hPa); 28.91 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities3
Damage$181 million (2003 USD)
Areas affectedWindward Islands, Jamaica, Yucatán Peninsula, Northern Mexico, Texas
IBTrACSEdit this at Wikidata
Part of the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Claudette was a moderately strong tropical cyclone that struck South Texas in July 2003. A fairly long-lived July Atlantic hurricane, Claudette was the fourth depression, third tropical storm and first hurricane of the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season. Claudette began as a tropical wave in the eastern Caribbean. It moved quickly westward, brushing past the Yucatán Peninsula before moving northwestward through the Gulf of Mexico. Claudette remained a tropical storm until just before making landfall in Port O'Connor, Texas, when it quickly strengthened to a strong Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Forecasting of its path and intensity was uncertain throughout its lifetime, resulting in widespread and often unnecessary preparations along its path.

Claudette was the first hurricane to make landfall in July in the United States since Hurricane Danny in the 1997 season. The hurricane caused two deaths and moderate damage in Texas, mostly from strong winds, as well as extensive beach erosion. Because of the damage, President George W. Bush declared portions of South Texas a Federal Disaster Area, allowing the affected citizens to apply for aid. Claudette also caused significant rainfall and minor damage in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo as a tropical storm, as well as minor damage on Saint Lucia before developing into a tropical cyclone.