Hurricane Florence (1953)

Basin

North Atlantic

Dates

September 23, 1953 to September 27, 1953

Peak strength

Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)

Lowest pressure

968 mb (28.59 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

7.3

Fastest the center moved

20 kt (23 mph)

Identifier

AL091953

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,386 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 14.71 inches (374 mm).

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

• Tropical Storm AliceNorth Atlantic · 1953Tropical Storm60 kt · 994 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1953Tropical Storm45 kt
• Hurricane BarbaraNorth Atlantic · 1953Cat 180 kt · 973 mb
• Hurricane CarolNorth Atlantic · 1953Cat 5140 kt · 929 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1953Tropical Storm35 kt · 1007 mb
• Hurricane DollyNorth Atlantic · 1953Cat 165 kt · 989 mb
• Hurricane EdnaNorth Atlantic · 1953Cat 3100 kt · 962 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1953Tropical Storm45 kt · 1004 mb
• Hurricane GailNorth Atlantic · 1953Cat 170 kt · 986 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1953Tropical Storm55 kt
• Hurricane HazelNorth Atlantic · 1953Cat 175 kt · 989 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1953Tropical Storm45 kt · 999 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1953Tropical Storm55 kt

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.

• Wikipedia article: Hurricane Florence