Hurricane Gracie

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Hurricane Gracie
Category 4 hurricane ( SSHWS )
Emergence 20th September 1959
resolution September 30, 1959
Peak wind
speed
140  mph (220  km / h ) (sustained for 1 minute)
Lowest air pressure 950  mbar ( hPa ; 28.1  inHg )
dead 22 direct
Property damage $ 14 million (1959)
Affected
areas 		Bahamas , South Carolina , North Carolina , Virginia
Season overview:
1959 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Gracie was a major hurricane that formed in September 1959 and became the strongest tropical cyclone of the 1959 Atlantic hurricane season . Gracie became the most intense hurricane to hit the mainland of the United States since Hurricane Hazel in 1954. The system was first noticed when a thunderstorm zone formed east of the Leeward Islands , passed the Greater Antilles to the north, and rapidly intensified into a hurricane on September 22nd. Gracie was a storm that was very difficult to predict. After five days of wandering, Gracie became a major hurricane, hitting South Carolina, and weakening as it swept over the Appalachians . There Gracie's rainfall ended a drought. Much of the destruction Gracie caused was concentrated in the city of Beaufort , South Carolina. When Gracie moved over the Eastern States , the system went into an extra-tropical cyclone on September 30th.

Storm course

Gracie Railway Track

A thunderstorm area was first identified on September 18 a few hundred kilometers east of the Leeward Islands. The convective area organized itself into a tropical depression near Hispaniola on September 20. After moving in a west-northwest direction for a day, it turned to the northeast, where the high-altitude winds were very favorable for further development and weak steering currents. On September 22nd, the low pressure area was named Gracie, even before it intensified into a tropical storm. Gracie reached hurricane strength a few hours later. Gracie swiveled east on September 25 and back west to west-northwest two days later when a stable anticyclone formed north .

Gracie intensified rapidly and reached its greatest intensity on September 29 with wind speeds of 225 km / h. Cool air and the effects of the nearby mainland weakened Gracie, however, to a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 195 km / h when the storm at 16:25 UTC on the Saint Helena Sound on the south end of Edisto Iceland in South Carolina pulled away. After landfall, Gracie moved north inland and became extra-tropical on September 30th.

Preparations

On September 28 at 4:00 p.m. UTC, a storm warning was issued for the east coast of the United States between Savannah , Georgia and Wilmington , North Carolina, which was expanded to a hurricane warning three hours later. The validity of the storm warning has been extended to the area between Daytona Beach , Florida and Savannah and between Wilmington and Morehead City . South of Brunswick , Georgia, the storm warnings were lifted on September 29 at 12:00 UTC. Ten hours later, the storm warnings were extended north to Cape May , New Jersey , including Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay . On September 30 at 4:00 a.m. UTC, all warnings south of Cape Hatteras were canceled, the storm warning only remained in effect for the coasts north of Cape Hatteras. At 4:00 p.m. UTC, any remaining storm warnings were downgraded to small craft warnings.

Effects

Georgia and South Carolina

Rain-related Gracie in the United States

Flooding from the storm surge was minor as the storm landfall coincided with the ebb . Even so, Charleston recorded its highest flood water level since 1940. Along the South Carolina coast, the storm surge reached a height of 3.6 above mean low water level. The United States Coast Guard used the motor ship Bramble on September 30 to evacuate people who had been cut off in Savannah and Charleston. Gracie killed 10 people in South Carolina and Georgia, mainly in traffic accidents that caused rain and wind, falling trees, and electrocution from drooping power lines. The wind damage was evident in South Carolina, especially Beaufort. Gracie uprooted trees, tore down telegraph poles and street lamps, and power lines. Many windows could not withstand the wind and roof tiles were blown from the roofs. A number of watercourses overflowed from heavy rainfall, flooding some areas several feet high. South Carolina was only hit by a major hurricane thirty years later, namely by Hurricane Hugo in September 1989.

Other areas in the United States

Heavy rain fell well before the storm along an inverted trough that stretched north of the storm. From the morning of September 28 to the morning of September 29, Norfolk , Virginia recorded 172 mm of rainfall. The highest amount of rain observed in connection with Gracie was reported from Big Meadows at 335 mm. The storm triggered a total of seven tornadoes . Some of those accompanying the dissolving storm through Virginia killed twelve people near Charlottesville , Virginia . Other tornadoes fell in the Carolina States and Pennsylvania. The rain benefited much of the Gracie impacted area as the region suffered a drought prior to the hurricane's arrival .

Long term effects

Edisto Beach, South Carolina, was forever changed by Gracie in the context of efforts to restore the beach after the hurricane blew. Most of what is now the seashell-strewn beach was not created until after Gracie. To restore the beach, which was reduced in size by Gracie's coastal erosion , a marshland was excavated and moved to the coast. This created high-quality and sought-after plots of land, which resulted in the expansion of the sea side of Palmetto Boulevard, but at the same time caused an environmental disaster on the seabed. An Assel -type ( Cyathura polita ), which in estuaries thrives disappeared from the mouth of the Ashepoo River . Kermadec petrels ( Pterodroma neglecta ) were blown as far as Lookout Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania during the storm . Until then, the bird species had not yet been observed as a random visitor in North America .

Deletion of the name

It is unclear whether the Gracie name was removed from the list of tropical cyclone names . Some NOAA documents state this, but the official list from the National Hurricane Center does not mention Gracie among the deleted storm names. However, this name has not been used since then.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Preliminary Report on Hurricane Gracie: September 22 – October 1, 1959 ( English , GIF) National Hurricane Center . Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  2. ^ A b Allan Huffman: Hurricane Gracie . Archived from the original on May 9, 2009. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  3. ^ San Juan Weather Bureau Weather Bulletin for Press Radio and Television 3 PM September 18 1959 ( English , GIF) National Hurricane Center . September 18, 1959. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
  4. ↑ Miami Weather Bureau Advisory Number 1 Tropical Depression Gracie 1030 AM EST September 22, 1959 ( English , GIF) National Hurricane Center . September 22, 1959. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  5. ↑ Weather Underground: Hurricane Gracie ( English ) Wunderground.com. 2007. Retrieved November 8, 2007.
  6. ↑ Local Statement from Weather Bureau Charleston South Carolina Hurricane Gracie 12 Noon EST September 29 1959 ( English , GIF) National Hurricane Center . Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  7. ↑ a b National Hurricane Center: Atlantic hurricane best track (Hurdat) ( English ) Hurricane Research Division. Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research. April 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  8. ↑ Miami Weather Bureau Advisory Number 25A Hurricane Gracie 2 PM September 28 1959 ( English , GIF) National Hurricane Center . Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  9. ↑ Miami Weather Bureau Hurricane Gracie Bulletin For Press Radio and Television 7 AM September 29 1959 ( English , GIF) National Hurricane Center . Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  10. ↑ Miami Weather Bureau Advisory Number 30 Hurricane Gracie 5 PM September 29 1959. ( English , GIF) National Hurricane Center . Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  11. ↑ Miami Weather Bureau Advisory Number 31 Hurricane Gracie 11 PM September 29 1959 ( English , GIF) National Hurricane Center . Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  12. ↑ Washington Weather Bureau Advisory Number 33 Storm Gracie 11 AM September 30, 1959. ( English , GIF) National Hurricane Center . Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  13. ^ Tide Statement Weather Bureau Office Charleston South Carolina 2:30 PM EST September 29 1959 ( English , GIF) National Hurricane Center . Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  14. ^ D. Lee Harris: Characteristics of the Hurricane Storm Surge ( English , PDF; 8.3 MB) In: Weather Bureau Technical Paper . US Department of Commerce. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  15. ^ Historical Context and Statement of Significance Cactus, Mesquite, and Basswood Classes United States Coast Guard 180-foot Buoy Tenders (WLBs). ( English ) United States Coast Guard . Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  16. ^ State Highway Map Features Garden Club of South Carolina ( English ) South Carolina Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  17. ↑ September 29, 1959 ( English ) In: Daily Weather Maps . Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  18. ↑ David M. Roth : Hurricane Gracie Rainfall Page ( English ) Archived from the original on May 9, 2009. Accessed on 7 May, 2009.
  19. ↑ Tom Gražulis, Bill McCaul: List of Known Tropical Cyclones Which Have Spawned Tornadoes ( English ) Retrieved on 7 May, 2009.
  20. ↑ Virginia's Weather History: Virginia Hurricanes ( English ) Virginia Department of Emergency Management. Archived from the original on July 17, 2010. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  21. ^ Hurricane Gracie Preliminary Storm Report ( English , GIF) National Hurricane Center . Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  22. ↑ Gered Lennon: Living With the South Carolina Coast ( English ) (Accessed on May 7, 2009).
  23. ↑ William D. Burbanck: The Disappearance of Cyathura Polita from the Ashepoo River, South Carolina, After Hurricane "Gracie" in 1959 . In: Ecology . 42, No. 3, July 1961, pp. 606-607. doi : 10.2307 / 1932259 . Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  24. ↑ Kermadec Petrel in Pennsylvania ( English , PDF; 383 kB) University of New Mexico . Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  25. ↑ Faq: Hurricanes, Typhoons, And Tropical Cyclones ( English ) NOAA. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  26. ↑ Retired Hurricane Names Since 1954 ( English ) National Hurricane Center . Retrieved May 7, 2009.