Hurricane Connie

Hurricane Connie

Connie was a Category 4 hurricane that affected the eastern United States in August 1955. It formed on August 3, 1955, from a tropical wave in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Connie reached maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and a barometric pressure of 944 mbar on August 7. The hurricane later weakened, slowed its forward motion, and turned to the north, striking North Carolina as a Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. It was the first of three damaging tropical cyclones in the 1955 hurricane season to hit the state.

About Hurricane Connie in brief

Summary Hurricane ConnieConnie was a Category 4 hurricane that affected the eastern United States in August 1955. It formed on August 3, 1955, from a tropical wave in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Connie reached maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and a barometric pressure of 944 mbar on August 7. The hurricane later weakened, slowed its forward motion, and turned to the north, striking North Carolina as a Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. It was the first of three damaging tropical cyclones in the 1955 hurricane season to hit the state, along with Diane and Ione. The remnants of Connie killed three people in Ontario, and also destroyed a few houses and boats in the province. As a result of its impacts, including a death toll of 77, the name Connie was retired from the Atlantic hurricane naming list. At least 295,000 people nationwide lost electric power during the storm. Damage in the United States totaled around USD 86 million. The rains from Connie contributed to flooding from Hurricane Diane that caused USD 700 million in damage. The storm was later absorbed by a cold front over Lake Huron on August 15. It is the last hurricane named after a tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Ocean in the 20th century. The name Connie is now used for a tropical storm that formed in the Pacific Ocean in 1978. It became a tropical depression to the west of the Cape Verde islands on August 2, 1955. On August 3, Connie intensified into Tropical Storm Connie.

It moved quickly west-northwestward, strengthening into a hurricane by August 4. It approached the northern Lesser Antilles, passing about 105 mi north of the island group on August 6. The eye grew in size, and the combination of upwelling and cooler air resulted in weakening. After passing through the Chesapeake Bay region, Connie fell below hurricane intensity as it moved through the Atlantic coast near the North Carolina border. It made landfall near Fort Macon State Park in North Carolina at that time around 15: 00: 00 UTC. It then moved toward the southeast coast, with the restrengthened slightly, reaching a secondary peak intensity of 100 mph. On August 10, the hurricane turned to its north as it approached the north-east coast of the U.S. coast. It later weakened to a Category 2 hurricane as it passed through the Hampton Roads area, near Hampton, Virginia. Connie produced strong winds, high tides, and heavy rainfall as it moving ashore, causing heavy crop damage and 27 deaths in N.C. It also capsized a boat, killing 14 people and prompting a change in Coast Guard regulations. It caused record rainfall in New York, where record rainfall flooded houses and subways. On the island of Puerto Rico, Connie destroyed 60 homes and caused crop damage. Connie was the only hurricane of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season that made landfall in the LesserAntilles.