Hurricane Questions From Viewer Answered!
By Gannon Medwick
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Richard from Oriental asks:
1) In the last fifty years how many hurricanes have made landfall on the NC coast in months other than September?
2) When was the earliest in the year that a hurricane made landfall on the NC coast?
3) Why do our hurricanes generally come so late in the season?
Thanks for writing, Richard. I did some research and here are your answers!
1) By my count, only five hurricanes - outside of the month of September - made full or partial landfall (part of the eye wall affects shore) in Eastern North Carolina in the last 50 years. Listed here are all of North Carolina’s landfalling hurricanes from the last 50 years:
- Ophelia (partial), September 2005
- Isabel, September 2003
- Floyd, September 1999
- Bonnie, August 1998
- Fran, September 1996
- Bertha, July 1996
- Emily, September 1993 (brush)
- Bob, August 1991 (brush)
- Charley, August 1986
- Diana, September 1984
- Ginger, September 1971
- Gladys, October 1968 (brush)
- Donna, September 1960
- Helene, September 1958 (brush)
Just beyond the 50-year-ago mark, six hurricanes made full landfall or brushed Eastern North Carolina in 1954 and 1955. Four of the six hurricanes struck outside of the month of September, including the infamous Hazel of October 1954.
2) In the period I examined above, Hurricane Bertha was the earliest hurricane in a given calendar year to strike North Carolina. Bertha made landfall near Wilmington in July 1996 as a Category 2 storm.
3) I wouldn’t call September particularly “late” in a given hurricane season. Statistically, September represents the peak of Atlantic Basin hurricane activity. Hurricanes are almost unheard of in North Carolina in the first quarter of hurricane season (early June through mid July) and the last quarter of the season (mid October through late November).
The middle 50% of hurricane season (roughly July 15 through October 15) is when North Carolina gets practically all of its hurricanes. Hurricanes benefit from the high ocean surface temperatures and low atmospheric wind shear usually present during this time of year. In fact, since the mid 1950s, only Hurricane Bertha broke the July 15 - October 15 mold (it struck July 12).
Keep the weather questions coming! And, as always, thanks for checking out my blog, “Forecasting with Gannon”!
COMMENTS
Gannon.
A great job of research! Thanks for your skill and time to come up with this answer. Looks from your data that 64% of those hurricanes that made landfall in NC came in September, and 21% in August. Only two hurricanes in the last 50 years made landfall in our state outside of these two months. I guess we should be especially alert then.
Do you have an idea why this is? Warmest North Atlantic surface waters in August/September? Or is there a greater affect from the winds that affect hurricanes’ path during these months? Does our famous “Bermuda High” that sets up shop in the summer play a role? Or is something else at work here?
Anyway, thanks so much for this useful information.