The 1955 season

Hurricane Connie (1955)

Hurricane Connie reached Category 4 in the North Atlantic between August 3, 1955 and August 15, 1955, with a lowest pressure of 944 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Connie, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1955 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
August 3, 1955 to August 15, 1955
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Lowest pressure
944 mb (27.88 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
31.6
Fastest the center moved
21 kt (24 mph)
Identifier
AL021955

Deaths and damage

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

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Aug 12, 15:00Morehead City, NC, 3 km away34.7N 76.7W85 kt (98 mph)962 mb

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

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 2,013 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 13.24 inches (336 mm).

StationTotalPosition
FORT SCHUYLER13.24 in (336 mm)40.80N 73.80W
SLIDE MOUNTAIN12.98 in (330 mm)42.02N 74.42W
MINEOLA12.78 in (325 mm)40.73N 73.62W
NEW YORK LAGUARDIA ARPT12.50 in (318 mm)40.78N 73.88W
HEMPSTEAD MALVERNE12.48 in (317 mm)40.68N 73.67W
MOREHEAD CITY 2 WNW12.43 in (316 mm)34.73N 76.73W
PRESTON 1 S12.32 in (313 mm)38.70N 75.92W
MAYSVILLE 6 SW12.28 in (312 mm)34.83N 77.30W
GEIGERTOWN12.05 in (306 mm)40.20N 75.83W
NEW BERN CRAVEN CO REGL AP11.98 in (304 mm)35.07N 77.05W
PRINCE FREDERICK 1 N11.81 in (300 mm)38.55N 76.58W
HEMPSTEAD GARDEN CITY11.74 in (298 mm)40.72N 73.63W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 3, 06:0015.3N 40.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 3, 12:0015.7N 42.1W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 3, 18:0016.1N 44.2W40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 00:0016.4N 46.0W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 4, 06:0016.7N 47.7W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 4, 12:0017.0N 49.3W70 ktHurricane
Aug 4, 18:0017.4N 50.9W70 ktHurricane
Aug 5, 00:0017.7N 52.3W70 ktHurricane
Aug 5, 06:0018.0N 54.2W70 ktHurricane
Aug 5, 12:0018.3N 56.1W75 ktHurricane
Aug 5, 18:0018.5N 57.9W75 kt985 mbHurricane
Aug 6, 00:0018.7N 59.5W80 ktHurricane
Aug 6, 06:0019.0N 60.9W85 ktHurricane
Aug 6, 12:0019.3N 62.4W90 ktHurricane
Aug 6, 18:0019.6N 63.9W100 kt968 mbHurricane
Aug 7, 00:0020.4N 65.2W105 ktHurricane
Aug 7, 06:0021.2N 66.4W110 ktHurricane
Aug 7, 12:0022.0N 67.6W115 kt952 mbHurricane
Aug 7, 18:0022.8N 68.8W120 kt944 mbHurricane
Aug 8, 00:0023.9N 70.0W120 ktHurricane
Aug 8, 06:0025.0N 71.1W115 ktHurricane
Aug 8, 12:0026.1N 71.8W110 kt944 mbHurricane
Aug 8, 18:0027.0N 72.3W105 kt944 mbHurricane
Aug 9, 00:0027.9N 72.9W105 ktHurricane
Aug 9, 06:0028.7N 73.4W100 ktHurricane
Aug 9, 12:0029.4N 73.8W100 kt959 mbHurricane
Aug 9, 18:0030.0N 74.2W95 kt961 mbHurricane
Aug 10, 00:0030.4N 74.8W90 ktHurricane
Aug 10, 06:0030.7N 75.3W85 ktHurricane
Aug 10, 12:0030.9N 75.8W85 kt972 mbHurricane
Aug 10, 18:0031.1N 76.4W85 kt970 mbHurricane
Aug 11, 00:0031.3N 76.9W80 kt973 mbHurricane
Aug 11, 06:0031.6N 77.0W80 kt976 mbHurricane
Aug 11, 12:0032.1N 77.0W75 kt978 mbHurricane
Aug 11, 18:0032.7N 77.1W75 kt977 mbHurricane
Aug 12, 00:0033.2N 77.0W80 ktHurricane
Aug 12, 06:0033.7N 76.9W80 ktHurricane
Aug 12, 12:0034.3N 76.8W85 kt965 mbHurricane
Aug 12, 15:00 landfall34.7N 76.7W85 kt962 mbHurricane
Aug 12, 18:0035.0N 76.6W85 kt962 mbHurricane
Aug 13, 00:0036.3N 76.1W75 kt969 mbHurricane
Aug 13, 06:0037.7N 76.2W60 kt974 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 12:0039.1N 76.6W50 kt982 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 18:0040.5N 77.4W45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 00:0041.9N 79.3W45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 06:0042.9N 81.3W40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 12:0043.7N 82.5W40 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 18:0044.5N 83.3W35 kt1010 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 00:0045.4N 83.0W35 kt1011 mbTropical storm

Other North Atlantic storms of 1955

What this means

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.

Sources

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.