Hurricane Fern (1971)

Hurricane Fern

Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Fern making landfall
Formed	September 3, 1971
Dissipated	September 13, 1971
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 90 mph (150 km/h)
Lowest pressure	979 mbar (hPa); 28.91 inHg
Fatalities	2 indirect
Damage	$30.2 million (1971 USD)
Areas affected	Louisiana, Texas, northern Mexico
Part of the 1971 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Fern was the sixth named storm and fourth hurricane of the 1971 Atlantic hurricane season. It formed from a tropical wave which interacted with a large trough of low pressure to form Fern, as well as Hurricane Ginger, Tropical Storm Heidi, and a system designated Tropical Depression Eighteen in real-time, then Tropical Depression Sixteen after the fact, which moved into South Carolina. Fern crossed southeastern Louisiana as a tropical depression on September 4 before swinging back out over the Gulf of Mexico. Fern reached hurricane status on September 8, reaching a peak intensity of 90 mph (140 km/h) before making landfall near Freeport, Texas, two days later.

Fern's path was erratic since it made 90° turns three times during its duration, making it difficult for forecasters to track. The second Atlantic tropical cyclone to make U.S. landfall that year, Fern produced heavy rainfall across Louisiana and Texas, causing flash flooding that left 2 indirect fatalities and damage totaling over $30 million (1971 USD, $176 million 2018 USD).

A northwestward moving tropical wave moved out the Caribbean Sea on September 1 and became a tropical depression on September 2 after crossing southern Florida. Still moving northwestward, the tropical depression made landfall in southeastern Louisiana on September 4. A building high pressure system over the Central United States forced the tropical depression to move southwest over the Gulf of Mexico. The warm waters then cause the depression to reach tropical storm strength and the storm was given the name Fern by the National Hurricane Center on September 7.