The 1955 season

Hurricane Ione (1955)

Hurricane Ione reached Category 4 in the North Atlantic between September 10, 1955 and September 27, 1955, with a lowest pressure of 938 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Ione, 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
September 10, 1955 to September 27, 1955
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Lowest pressure
938 mb (27.70 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
21.7
Fastest the center moved
50 kt (58 mph)
Identifier
AL081955

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
Sep 19, 11:00Morehead City, NC, 3 km away34.7N 76.7W90 kt (104 mph)955 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 620 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 16.63 inches (422 mm).

StationTotalPosition
MAYSVILLE 6 SW16.63 in (422 mm)34.83N 77.30W
NEW BERN CRAVEN CO REGL AP13.02 in (331 mm)35.07N 77.05W
NEW BERN 3 NW12.86 in (327 mm)35.13N 77.08W
MOREHEAD CITY 2 WNW10.90 in (277 mm)34.73N 76.73W
BELHAVEN 5 SW8.93 in (227 mm)35.50N 76.68W
BATH 2 WSW8.87 in (225 mm)35.45N 76.83W
SOUTHPORT 5 N8.38 in (213 mm)34.00N 78.02W
WILMINGTON INTL AP8.36 in (212 mm)34.27N 77.90W
WILMINGTON 7 N8.32 in (211 mm)34.32N 77.92W
CHERRY POINT MCAS7.88 in (200 mm)34.90N 76.88W
WASHINGTON WWTP 4W7.79 in (198 mm)35.53N 77.02W
NEW HOLLAND7.73 in (196 mm)35.45N 76.22W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 10, 06:0013.6N 41.4W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 10, 12:0014.0N 43.0W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 10, 18:0014.4N 44.6W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 11, 00:0014.8N 46.2W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 11, 06:0015.1N 47.8W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 11, 12:0015.2N 49.3W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 11, 18:0014.9N 50.8W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 12, 00:0014.6N 52.1W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 12, 06:0014.3N 53.4W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 12, 12:0014.0N 54.6W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 12, 18:0014.0N 55.8W35 kt1007 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 00:0014.4N 56.9W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 13, 06:0014.9N 58.0W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 13, 12:0015.5N 58.8W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 13, 18:0016.1N 59.3W40 ktTropical storm
Sep 14, 00:0016.7N 59.7W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 14, 06:0017.3N 60.1W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 14, 12:0017.9N 60.6W50 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 18:0018.5N 61.4W50 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 00:0019.3N 62.3W55 ktTropical storm
Sep 15, 06:0020.6N 63.3W65 ktHurricane
Sep 15, 12:0021.9N 64.4W70 kt990 mbHurricane
Sep 15, 18:0022.8N 65.6W70 ktHurricane
Sep 16, 00:0023.3N 67.0W75 ktHurricane
Sep 16, 06:0023.7N 68.3W75 ktHurricane
Sep 16, 12:0024.1N 69.3W75 kt985 mbHurricane
Sep 16, 18:0024.6N 70.2W80 ktHurricane
Sep 17, 00:0025.1N 71.1W85 ktHurricane
Sep 17, 06:0025.7N 71.9W90 kt971 mbHurricane
Sep 17, 12:0026.3N 72.5W105 kt950 mbHurricane
Sep 17, 18:0027.0N 73.2W120 kt938 mbHurricane
Sep 18, 00:0027.9N 74.0W120 ktHurricane
Sep 18, 06:0028.8N 74.7W115 ktHurricane
Sep 18, 12:0029.8N 75.3W110 kt943 mbHurricane
Sep 18, 18:0031.2N 75.8W105 ktHurricane
Sep 19, 00:0032.6N 76.1W100 ktHurricane
Sep 19, 06:0033.8N 76.5W95 ktHurricane
Sep 19, 11:00 landfall34.7N 76.7W90 kt955 mbHurricane
Sep 19, 12:0034.8N 76.7W90 kt955 mbHurricane
Sep 19, 18:0035.3N 76.7W75 ktHurricane
Sep 20, 00:0036.0N 76.4W65 ktHurricane
Sep 20, 06:0036.6N 75.7W65 kt976 mbHurricane
Sep 20, 12:0037.1N 74.2W70 kt979 mbHurricane
Sep 20, 18:0038.0N 72.0W75 kt982 mbHurricane
Sep 21, 00:0039.3N 68.3W80 kt976 mbHurricane
Sep 21, 06:0041.5N 64.0W80 ktExtratropical
Sep 21, 12:0045.0N 59.4W75 ktExtratropical
Sep 21, 18:0048.5N 55.0W75 ktExtratropical
Sep 22, 00:0050.3N 54.5W70 ktExtratropical
Sep 22, 06:0050.7N 54.5W70 ktExtratropical
Sep 22, 12:0051.0N 53.8W65 ktExtratropical
Sep 22, 18:0052.5N 51.0W65 ktExtratropical
Sep 23, 00:0053.4N 46.8W60 ktExtratropical
Sep 23, 06:0053.3N 43.7W55 ktExtratropical
Sep 23, 12:0053.1N 40.6W50 ktExtratropical
Sep 23, 18:0054.6N 35.0W45 ktExtratropical
Sep 24, 00:0057.2N 29.3W45 ktExtratropical
Sep 24, 06:0060.0N 22.0W45 ktExtratropical
Sep 24, 12:0062.5N 15.5W45 ktExtratropical
Sep 24, 18:0065.0N 14.0W40 ktExtratropical
Sep 25, 00:0067.5N 11.5W40 ktExtratropical
Sep 25, 06:0069.0N 9.5W35 ktExtratropical
Sep 25, 12:0070.0N 8.0W35 ktExtratropical
Sep 25, 18:0070.9N 7.0W35 ktExtratropical
Sep 26, 00:0071.6N 7.0W35 ktExtratropical
Sep 26, 06:0072.1N 9.0W35 ktExtratropical
Sep 26, 12:0072.5N 12.0W35 ktExtratropical
Sep 26, 18:0072.8N 14.0W30 ktExtratropical
Sep 27, 00:0073.0N 15.0W30 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.