Hurricane Dennis (1999)

Basin

North Atlantic

Dates

August 24, 1999 to September 8, 1999

Peak strength

Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)

Lowest pressure

962 mb (28.41 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

20.2

Fastest the center moved

26 kt (30 mph)

Identifier

AL051999

Radar at KMHX as it neared land, Sep 4, 21:00 UTC

The sources count different things and are not added together.

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

NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.

Deaths

1 (1 direct, 0 indirect)

Injuries

12

Property damage

$40 million

Crop damage

$43 million

Events recorded

202 in 29 reports from 10 states and marine areas

State by state

What was recorded

71 hurricane (typhoon), 56 heavy rain, 34 flash flood, 17 tropical storm, 6 thunderstorm wind, 5 storm surge/tide, 5 coastal flood, 2 lightning, 2 high wind, 1 tornado, 1 rip current, 1 hail, 1 strong wind.

1 tornado recorded in the United States, strongest first.

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,133 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 19.91 inches (506 mm).

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

From the Storm Events narratives, unedited.

Hurricane Dennis, a category 2 storm, moved up the South Carolina Coast on the 29th and early morning of the 30th, passing Cape Fear at 4 AM EST with the center of the eye 60 miles offshore. Winds gusted to 112 MPH at Frying Pan Tower, 35 miles offshore from Bald Head Island (Cape Fear). Along the coast, gusts were mostly in the 65 to 90 mph range...although a gust at Wrightsville Beach hit 111 MPH. Rainfall of 5 to 9 inches caused extensive ponding of water. Although relatively minor, beach erosion was worst on Holden Beach, Brunswick County where a teetering house fell off its pilings and a septic tank was exposed. In Wrightsville Beach, New Hanover County, a couple of power poles were snapped.

Pender, North Carolina · Hurricane (Typhoon) · Aug 30, 05:00 UTC

Hurricane Dennis, a category 2 storm, moved up the coast, the center about 100 miles offshore during the early morning hours. Winds gusted around 50 mph and rainfall 1 to 4 inches caused street ponding. There was heavy surf and minor beach erosion.

Horry, South Carolina · Hurricane (Typhoon) · Aug 30, 05:00 UTC

Rains from Hurricane Dennis inundated Eastern Pender, New Hanover and Eastern Brunswick Couinties with 6 to 9 inches of rain that caused ponding of water on roadways up to 10 inches deep, mostly during the pre-dawn hours. There were few accidents and little damage reported, as hurricane warnings were in effect and the flooding subsided during the early morning as Dennis moved away from the area.

Pender, North Carolina · Flash Flood · Aug 30, 06:45 UTC

Tornado touchdown in the city of Hampton. Extensive structural damage in a 3 block area. Numerous minor injuries, with 6 people transported to the hospital. Three apartment complexes and an assisted living facility condemned. Two additional apartment complexes partially condemned. There were 300 persons from apartment complexes forced to evacuate while 160 persons from the assisted living facility were forced to evacuate. Many roofs were lifted off buildings and as much as 800 vehicles were reported damaged. One 18 wheel tractor trailer was overturned. There was not a continuous damage swath, but areas where the tornado did not completely touch the ground. In some areas the tops of trees were sheared off. This tornado formed in the area ahead of the landfalling tropical storm/hurricane Dennis. There were 6600 persons without power.

Hampton (c), Virginia · Tornado · Sep 4, 17:21 UTC

The city of Lewisburg was especially hard hit by the remnants of Hurricane Dennis as up to 8 inches of rain fell in 24 hours, most of it during the early morning hours. Waters rose rapidly in the early morning hours. At least 160 people were displaced from their homes, many of them Bucknell University students. A total of 414 homes were affected by the flooding along with 30 county businesses. Vehicles were floated down the city side streets and 162 were damaged. The campus of Bucknell University also had damage. Other parts of the county from Mifflinburg east to the Susquehanna River had problems. Route 15, the major north/south highway to Harrisburg, was closed due to flooding.

Union, Pennsylvania · Flash Flood · Sep 7, 05:01 UTC

The remnants of Hurricane Dennis produced 4 to 8 inches of rain across the southeast parts of Lycoming County. Particularly hard hit was Montgomery where flooding was compared to Agnes in 1972. Major flooding hit around 3:00 a.m. EDT. Thirty homes were damaged and one bridge was out of service. Around 80 people were evacuated between 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m., with a large number of residents abandoning their homes at the lower end of West Houston Avenue and Brook Street. Others left homes on Main Street and the campground. One person told of leaving his home, only to find his car had been overturned by the water.

Lycoming, Pennsylvania · Flash Flood · Sep 7, 07:00 UTC

• Tropical Storm ArleneNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Storm50 kt · 1006 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Depression30 kt · 1004 mb
• Hurricane BretNorth Atlantic · 1999Cat 4125 kt · 944 mb
• Hurricane CindyNorth Atlantic · 1999Cat 4120 kt · 942 mb
• Tropical Storm EmilyNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Storm45 kt · 1004 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Depression30 kt · 1006 mb
• Hurricane FloydNorth Atlantic · 1999Cat 4135 kt · 921 mb
• Hurricane GertNorth Atlantic · 1999Cat 4130 kt · 930 mb
• Tropical Storm HarveyNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Storm50 kt · 994 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Depression30 kt · 1002 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Depression30 kt · 1007 mb
• Hurricane IreneNorth Atlantic · 1999Cat 295 kt · 958 mb
• Hurricane JoseNorth Atlantic · 1999Cat 285 kt · 979 mb
• Tropical Storm KatrinaNorth Atlantic · 1999Tropical Storm35 kt · 999 mb
• Hurricane LennyNorth Atlantic · 1999Cat 4135 kt · 933 mb

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.

• Every advisory and discussion NHC issued while it was live
• Wikipedia article: Hurricane Dennis