Hurricane Charley (1986)

Hurricane Charley (1986)

Hurricane Charley was the second hurricane to threaten the East Coast of the U.S. within a year’s timeframe. It formed as a subtropical low on August 13 along the Florida panhandle. After moving off the coast of South Carolina, the system transitioned into a tropical cyclone and intensified into a hurricane. It gradually weakened over the north Atlantic Ocean before transitioning into an extratropical cyclone on August 20. The storm brought heavy rainfall and strong winds to Ireland and the United Kingdom, causing at least 11 deaths.

About Hurricane Charley (1986) in brief

Summary Hurricane Charley (1986)Hurricane Charley was the second hurricane to threaten the East Coast of the U.S. within a year’s timeframe, after Hurricane Gloria of 1985. Charley formed as a subtropical low on August 13 along the Florida panhandle. After moving off the coast of South Carolina, the system transitioned into a tropical cyclone and intensified into a hurricane. It gradually weakened over the north Atlantic Ocean before transitioning into an extratropical cyclone on August 20. The storm brought heavy rainfall and strong winds to Ireland and the United Kingdom, causing at least 11 deaths. The remnants of Charley remained identifiable for over a week, until after crossing Ireland and Great Britain they dissipated on August 30. In Ireland, the rainfall set records for 24-hour totals, including an accumulation of more than 7. 8in which set the record for the greatest daily rainfall total in the country. In North Carolina, where the hurricane made landfall, tidal flooding and downed trees were the primary impacts. In Virginia, where 110,000 people were left without power, the storm brought high winds to southeastern Virginia. One traffic fatality was reported each in North Carolina and Virginia. Three people in Maryland died due to a plane crash related to the storm. Throughout the United States, Hurricane Charley caused an estimated US$15 million in damage. One person drowned in Newfoundland, and it subsequently moved across the eastern portion of the state. It was the third tropical storm and second hurricane of the season, and the second storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.

It weakened to a tropical storm as it approached the North Carolina–Virginia border. It then weakened to tropical storm status as it entered the Atlantic Ocean near the Virginia-North Carolina border. The hurricane weakened to hurricane status by August 21, bringing the storm southeastward and later eastward to Nantucket, Massachusetts. As a result of the transition, Charley re-intensified under the baroclinic instability of the North Atlantic trough, bringing it under the influence of a stronger, stronger trough. On August 22, it became a tropical depression again, before becoming a tropicalstorm again. It became a hurricane later that day, and made landfall near Cape Lookout, North Carolina. It later weakened again as it moved eastward through Georgia, before turning eastward and exiting South Carolina into the Atlantic ocean. It reached peak winds of 80 mph after emerging into theAtlantic Ocean near Nanticoke, Virginia, on August 23. It subsequently weakened to 80mph as it exited South Carolina and turned northward. It eventually weakened to subtropical cyclone on August 24, and then extratropicals after crossing into the Canadian Atlantic Ocean. It remained identifiable for several days until August 30, when it dissipated over the Canadian mid-Atlantic Ocean. In Georgia and South Carolina it alleviated drought conditions. In the Dublin area, 451 buildings were flooded, some up to a depth of 8 ft.