Barry on Sunday brought Texarkana the lowest-recorded high temperature for July 14 since they started being recorded in 1896.
Charlie Woodrum, warning-coordinating meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Shreveport, said Barry only briefly became a Category 1 hurricane before dropping down to a tropical storm. The storm downgraded even further to a tropical depression as it reached the Louisiana-Arkansas border Sunday near Lafayette County.
"Barry briefly became a Category 1 hurricane with winds up to 75 mph, before dropping down to a tropical depression which has winds of less the 35 mph," Woodrum said.
"It basically gave Texarkana it's lowest-recorded high temperature (72 degrees) ever for July 14. The second-lowest high temperature for July 14 in Texarkana, happened in 1990 when it only got up to 77 degrees."
The strongest recorded hurricanes reach Category 5 with winds up to 160 mph, he said.
Woodrum added that all the Texarkana area really got out of Hurricane Barry was some light rain.
"Right now (as of early Sunday evening), it continues to be cloudy and dreary with temperatures in Texarkana remaining about 20 degrees below normal for this time of the year," Woodrum said. "Normal high for this time of the year in Texarkana is about 93 degrees."
Nevertheless, Woodrum said that there's still time and potential for stronger hurricanes to pass through the area.
"The peak season for hurricanes is usually from August through October," he said. "Right now,we are still pretty close to being on track for a normal hurricane storm season. This means we could see anywhere from nine to 15 of these storms before the season is over. So far, we have seen about two."