The 1956 season

Hurricane Flossy (1956)

Hurricane Flossy reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between September 20, 1956 and October 3, 1956, with a lowest pressure of 974 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Flossy, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1956 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 20, 1956 to October 3, 1956
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
974 mb (28.76 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
5.1
Fastest the center moved
27 kt (31 mph)
Identifier
AL071956

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.

Landfalls

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Sep 24, 10:00Boothville, LA, 27 km away29.1N 89.4W75 kt (86 mph)980 mb
Sep 25, 00:00Miramar Beach, FL, 5 km away30.4N 86.4W80 kt (92 mph)974 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 2,373 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 16.70 inches (424 mm).

StationTotalPosition
GOLDEN MEADOW16.70 in (424 mm)29.38N 90.27W
GULF SHORES POST OFFICE16.30 in (414 mm)30.28N 87.68W
PENSACOLA REGIONAL AP14.34 in (364 mm)30.48N 87.18W
PENSACOLA CORRY FLD NAAS12.91 in (328 mm)30.40N 87.28W
ENTERPRISE12.05 in (306 mm)31.32N 85.85W
BLUE SPRINGS11.50 in (292 mm)31.67N 85.52W
OZARK 6 NNW11.10 in (282 mm)31.53N 85.68W
NEW ORLEANS ALVIN CALLENDER F11.09 in (282 mm)29.83N 90.02W
PENSACOLA FOREST SHERMAN NAS11.07 in (281 mm)30.35N 87.32W
PORT SULPHUR11.04 in (280 mm)29.48N 89.70W
FORT MORGAN10.70 in (272 mm)30.23N 88.02W
PENSACOLA10.50 in (267 mm)30.42N 87.22W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 20, 18:0018.0N 86.5W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 21, 00:0018.1N 87.0W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 21, 06:0018.3N 87.7W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 21, 12:0018.5N 88.4W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 21, 18:0018.9N 89.1W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 22, 00:0019.5N 89.7W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 22, 06:0020.4N 90.1W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 22, 12:0021.5N 90.4W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 22, 18:0022.6N 90.7W40 ktTropical storm
Sep 23, 00:0023.8N 90.9W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 23, 06:0025.0N 91.1W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 12:0026.2N 91.3W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 23, 18:0027.1N 91.3W70 ktHurricane
Sep 24, 00:0028.0N 90.9W75 kt984 mbHurricane
Sep 24, 06:0028.7N 90.1W75 kt982 mbHurricane
Sep 24, 10:00 landfall29.1N 89.4W75 kt980 mbHurricane
Sep 24, 12:0029.4N 88.9W75 kt980 mbHurricane
Sep 24, 18:0029.9N 87.6W80 kt977 mbHurricane
Sep 25, 00:00 landfall30.4N 86.4W80 kt974 mbHurricane
Sep 25, 06:0030.8N 85.4W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 25, 12:0031.2N 84.4W40 ktTropical storm
Sep 25, 18:0031.9N 83.2W35 kt998 mbExtratropical
Sep 26, 00:0032.6N 81.8W40 kt999 mbExtratropical
Sep 26, 06:0033.4N 80.3W45 kt999 mbExtratropical
Sep 26, 12:0034.1N 79.1W45 kt1001 mbExtratropical
Sep 26, 18:0034.5N 78.4W45 kt1001 mbExtratropical
Sep 27, 00:0034.8N 78.0W50 kt1002 mbExtratropical
Sep 27, 06:0035.0N 77.6W50 kt1005 mbExtratropical
Sep 27, 12:0035.3N 77.2W50 kt1008 mbExtratropical
Sep 27, 18:0035.6N 76.6W50 kt1009 mbExtratropical
Sep 28, 00:0036.3N 75.7W50 kt1011 mbExtratropical
Sep 28, 06:0037.4N 74.5W50 ktExtratropical
Sep 28, 12:0038.5N 73.0W45 ktExtratropical
Sep 28, 18:0039.5N 71.5W40 ktExtratropical
Sep 29, 00:0040.1N 69.5W35 ktExtratropical
Sep 29, 06:0040.3N 67.5W30 ktExtratropical
Sep 29, 12:0040.5N 64.0W30 ktExtratropical
Sep 29, 18:0040.3N 61.0W30 ktExtratropical
Sep 30, 00:0039.8N 59.5W30 ktExtratropical
Sep 30, 06:0038.5N 58.5W30 ktExtratropical
Sep 30, 12:0037.5N 57.5W30 ktExtratropical
Sep 30, 18:0036.7N 56.0W30 ktExtratropical
Oct 1, 00:0036.0N 55.5W30 ktExtratropical
Oct 1, 06:0036.0N 55.8W35 ktExtratropical
Oct 1, 12:0037.0N 56.0W35 ktExtratropical
Oct 1, 18:0038.5N 56.0W40 ktExtratropical
Oct 2, 00:0040.0N 56.2W45 ktExtratropical
Oct 2, 06:0041.5N 56.5W50 ktExtratropical
Oct 2, 12:0043.0N 56.5W50 ktExtratropical
Oct 2, 18:0044.5N 56.5W45 ktExtratropical
Oct 3, 00:0046.0N 56.5W40 ktExtratropical
Oct 3, 06:0047.5N 56.5W40 ktExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1956

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.