Hurricane Gracie

Hurricane Gracie
Radar image of Hurricane Gracie taken by the United States Navy
Meteorological history
FormedSeptember 20, 1959
ExtratropicalSeptember 30, 1959
DissipatedOctober 2, 1959
Category 4 major hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds140 mph (220 km/h)
Lowest pressure950 mbar (hPa); 28.05 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities22 direct
Damage$14 million (1959 USD)
Areas affectedBahamas, Georgia, The Carolinas, Virginia, Northeastern United States, Atlantic Canada
IBTrACSEdit this at Wikidata

Part of the 1959 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Gracie was a major hurricane that formed in September 1959, the strongest during the 1959 Atlantic hurricane season and the most intense to strike the United States since Hurricane Hazel in 1954.[1] The system was first noted as an area of thunderstorms east of the Lesser Antilles which moved just north of the Greater Antilles, quickly intensifying into a hurricane on September 22. Gracie was a storm that was very difficult to forecast, with its movement unpredictable.[2] After five days of erratic motion, Gracie became a major hurricane which struck South Carolina, and weakened as it moved up the Appalachians, bringing much needed rain to a drought-plagued region. Much of the destruction related with Gracie was centered on Beaufort, South Carolina. Gracie became an extratropical cyclone on September 30 while moving through the Eastern United States.

  1. ^ National Hurricane Center. Preliminary Report on Hurricane Gracie: September 22-October 1, 1959. Archived February 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
  2. ^ Allan Huffman Hurricane Gracie. Archived May 9, 2009, at archive.today Retrieved on 2008-01-07.