The 1955 season

Hurricane Diane (1955)

Hurricane Diane reached Category 2 in the North Atlantic between August 7, 1955 and August 23, 1955, with a lowest pressure of 969 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Diane, 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 7, 1955 to August 23, 1955
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
969 mb (28.61 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
16.5
Fastest the center moved
47 kt (54 mph)
Identifier
AL031955

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 17, 12:00Kure Beach, NC, 1 km away34.0N 77.9W60 kt (69 mph)985 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 1,628 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 19.75 inches (502 mm).

StationTotalPosition
WESTFIELD19.75 in (502 mm)42.13N 72.75W
TORRINGTON 216.86 in (428 mm)41.80N 73.13W
SPRINGFIELD16.65 in (423 mm)42.10N 72.58W
CHARLTON 216.56 in (421 mm)42.13N 71.95W
BAKERSVILLE16.52 in (420 mm)41.85N 73.02W
WALPOLE 1 SSE16.18 in (411 mm)42.13N 71.25W
BARKHAMSTED15.95 in (405 mm)41.92N 72.95W
BURLINGTON15.92 in (404 mm)41.80N 72.93W
MILFORD15.65 in (398 mm)42.17N 71.52W
WALPOLE15.62 in (397 mm)42.17N 71.23W
THOMPSONVILLE15.45 in (392 mm)42.00N 72.60W
WEST HARTLAND15.30 in (389 mm)42.00N 72.97W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 7, 06:0015.7N 41.2W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 7, 12:0016.0N 42.5W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 7, 18:0016.1N 43.8W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 8, 00:0016.2N 45.2W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 8, 06:0016.3N 46.6W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 8, 12:0016.5N 48.0W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 8, 18:0016.6N 49.7W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 9, 00:0016.7N 50.7W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 9, 06:0016.8N 51.9W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 9, 12:0017.0N 53.1W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 9, 18:0017.3N 54.5W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 10, 00:0017.7N 56.0W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 10, 06:0018.2N 57.4W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 10, 12:0019.0N 58.6W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 10, 18:0020.0N 59.5W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 11, 00:0021.2N 60.0W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 11, 06:0022.3N 60.6W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 11, 12:0023.3N 61.3W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 11, 18:0023.8N 61.8W45 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 00:0024.2N 61.6W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 12, 06:0024.6N 61.4W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 12, 12:0025.0N 61.2W70 ktHurricane
Aug 12, 18:0025.5N 61.0W75 kt975 mbHurricane
Aug 13, 00:0026.0N 60.8W70 kt980 mbHurricane
Aug 13, 06:0026.7N 61.0W70 ktHurricane
Aug 13, 12:0027.3N 61.4W80 ktHurricane
Aug 13, 18:0027.4N 62.6W90 kt969 mbHurricane
Aug 14, 00:0027.2N 63.8W90 kt973 mbHurricane
Aug 14, 06:0027.3N 64.7W80 kt976 mbHurricane
Aug 14, 12:0027.5N 65.7W75 kt980 mbHurricane
Aug 14, 18:0027.8N 66.8W75 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 00:0028.2N 68.1W75 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 06:0028.7N 69.5W80 kt973 mbHurricane
Aug 15, 12:0029.2N 70.9W80 kt973 mbHurricane
Aug 15, 18:0029.7N 72.3W80 kt973 mbHurricane
Aug 16, 00:0030.0N 73.4W75 ktHurricane
Aug 16, 06:0030.4N 74.4W75 ktHurricane
Aug 16, 12:0030.9N 75.3W75 kt982 mbHurricane
Aug 16, 18:0031.7N 76.2W75 kt983 mbHurricane
Aug 17, 00:0032.5N 76.9W70 kt984 mbHurricane
Aug 17, 06:0033.2N 77.4W65 kt985 mbHurricane
Aug 17, 12:00 landfall34.0N 77.9W60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 17, 18:0035.1N 78.4W55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 18, 00:0036.5N 78.7W50 kt993 mbTropical storm
Aug 18, 06:0037.8N 78.8W45 kt999 mbTropical storm
Aug 18, 12:0038.8N 78.1W40 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Aug 18, 18:0039.6N 76.9W35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 00:0040.2N 75.7W35 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 06:0040.5N 74.5W40 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 12:0040.7N 73.0W40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 18:0040.9N 71.5W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 00:0041.0N 69.9W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 06:0041.2N 67.5W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 12:0041.5N 64.5W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 18:0042.3N 61.8W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 21, 00:0043.0N 58.4W50 ktExtratropical
Aug 21, 06:0043.8N 53.5W50 ktExtratropical
Aug 21, 12:0045.0N 48.0W50 ktExtratropical
Aug 21, 18:0047.0N 42.0W50 ktExtratropical
Aug 22, 00:0049.0N 36.0W55 ktExtratropical
Aug 22, 06:0052.5N 34.0W55 ktExtratropical
Aug 22, 12:0056.0N 33.0W55 ktExtratropical
Aug 22, 18:0058.5N 32.5W55 ktExtratropical
Aug 23, 00:0060.5N 32.0W50 ktExtratropical
Aug 23, 06:0062.0N 32.0W45 ktExtratropical
Aug 23, 12:0063.5N 31.0W40 ktExtratropical
Aug 23, 18:0065.0N 29.0W35 ktExtratropical

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.