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1989 Hurricane Hugo - September 1989

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1989 Hurricane Hugo - September 1989 1989 Hurricane Hugo - September 1989. Category 4 hurricane devastates SC and NC with ~ 20 foot storm surge and severe wind damage after hitting PR and the U.S. Virgin Islands; over $9.0 (13.9) billion (about $7.1 (10.9) billion in Carolinas); 86 deaths (57--U.S. mainland, 29--U.S. Islands). Hurricane Hugo was a powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread damage and loss of life in Guadeloupe, Saint Croix, Puerto Rico, and the Southeast United States. It formed over the eastern Atlantic near the Cape Verde Islands on September 9, 1989. Hugo moved thousands of miles across the Atlantic, rapidly strengthening to briefly attain category 5 hurricane strength on its journey. It later crossed over Guadeloupe and St. Croix on September 17 and 18 as a category 4 hurricane. Weakening slightly more, it passed over Puerto Rico as a strong category 3 hurricane. Further weakening occurred several hours after re-emerging into the Atlantic, becoming downgraded to a category 2 hurricane. However, it re-strengthened into a category 4 hurricane before making landfall just slightly north of Charleston, on Isle of Palms on September 22 with 140 mph sustained winds (gusts to more than 160 mph). It had devolved to a remnant low near Lake Erie by the next day. As of 2016, Hurricane Hugo is the most intense tropical cyclone to strike the East Coast north of Florida since 1898. Hurricane Hugo caused 34 fatalities (most by electrocution or drowning) in the Caribbean and 27 in South Carolina, left nearly 100,000 homeless, and resulted in $9.47 billion (1989 USD) in damage overall, making it the most damaging hurricane ever recorded at the time. Of this total, $7 billion was from the United States and Puerto Rico, ranking it as the costliest storm to impact the country at the time. Since 1989, however, it has been surpassed by multiple storms and now ranks as the seventeenth costliest in the United States. Hurricane Hugo Category 5 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) Hurricane Hugo near peak intensity on September 15 Formed September 10, 1989 Dissipated September 25, 1989 (Extratropical after September 22) Highest winds 1-minute sustained:160 mph (260 km/h) Lowest pressure 918 mbar (hPa); 27.11 inHg Fatalities 100 total (estimated) Damage $9.47 billion (1989 USD) Areas affected Cape Verde, Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Turks and Caicos Islands, Bahamas, East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Canada, U.S. Virgin Islands Part of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season Map plotting the track and intensity of the storm, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale Hurricane Hugo originated as a tropical wave (which also spawned Hurricane Raymond), which moved off the west coast of Africa on September 9. Soon after moving off the African coast, it was classified as Tropical Depression Eleven southeast of the Cape Verde Islands. Winds were initially 30 mph (48 km/h) but they reached 35 mph (56 km/h) soon after. Moving on a steady westward track at 18 knots (21 mph, 33 k/h), Tropical Depression Eleven steadily intensified, becoming Tropical Storm Hugo on September 11 at 1800 UTC. On September 13, Hugo rapidly intensified, and reached hurricane strength 1265 miles (2035 km) east of the Leeward Islands. A low-pressure area to the south caused Hugo to gradually turn to the west-northwest, while the storm was slowly strengthening. Shortly after, Hurricane Hugo began to rapidly intensify; 24 hours after it was classified as a hurricane, it had become a category 2 hurricane. After this bout of rapid strengthening, Hugo began to rapidly deepen, becoming a major hurricane early the next morning.[1] After becoming a major hurricane, and maintaining Category 3 strength for a day, Hugo reached Category 4 strength, and began to rapidly intensify again, while moving slowly west- northwest. Becoming a Category 5 Hurricane, its maximum sustained winds had increased to 160 mph (260 km/h) and the minimum central pressure had dropped to 918 millibars (27.1 inHg). In the early hours of September 17, Hugo crossed in between Guadeloupe and Montserrat while its winds were near 140 mph (230 km/h), when hurricane-force winds extended only 45 mi (72 km) from the center. Less than 24 hours later, it made another landfall on the island of St. Croix, with the same intensity. That day, Hurricane Hugo also made landfalls in Puerto Rico, in Vieques and Fajardo, though it was slightly weaker. Hugo began to accelerate to the northwest soon after exiting eastern Puerto Rico. On September 18, the hurricane was located a couple of hundred miles east of Florida when it began a more northward track, in response to a steering flow associated with an upper-level low pressure area that was moving across the southeastern United States. Hugo then began to strengthen again, and it reached a secondary peak at 1800 UTC on September 21 as a Category 4 hurricane. The maximum sustained winds were 140 mph (230 km/h), while the minimum central pressure was 944 millibars (27.9 inHg). On September 22 at 0400 UTC, Hugo made landfall on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, at its secondary peak as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale with 140-mph sustained winds and a central pressure of 934 millibars (27.6 inHg). The storm continued inland, and weakened to a very strong tropical storm as it passed over Charlotte, North Carolina.[5] Hugo continued on the weakening trend and weakened to a tropical storm later on the same day over central North Carolina. The storm continued weakening as it moved inland, and on September 23, the storm weakened to a remnant low. Its remnant low continued to accelerate north, and it reached the far northern Atlantic before dissipating on September 25. Christmas Coastal Snowstorm: December 22-24, 1989 Wx.gov > NWS Wilmington, NC > Christmas Coastal Snowstorm: Dec. 22-24, 1989 The largest snowstorm in history for the Southeast U.S. coast occurred just before Christmas 1989. This storm broke all-time snowfall records in Wilmington (15.3 inches), Cape Hatteras (13.3 inches), Charleston (8 inches), and Savannah (3.6 inches). Measurable snow fell as far south as Jacksonville and Tallahassee, Florida, and snow flurries were reported in Tampa and near Sarasota. In addition to record amounts of snow unprecedentedly cold temperatures accompanied the storm. All-time record lows were smashed across coastal North Carolina with temperatures falling to -4 in New Bern and to 0 in Wilmington. Arctic air flooded south into Florida as well with record lows observed all across the peninsula. Even Key West, FL reached 44 degrees tying the coldest December temperature ever seen in that nearly-tropical location. The Florida citrus industry suffered severe injury with newspaper reports indicating "nearly total destruction of commercial citrus growing north of Interstate 4..." Click the map for a larger version with totals from Virginia through Florida, December 22-24, 1989. Data from NWS & FAA stations and NWS cooperative observers. North Carolina South Carolina Georgia Florida Longwood 19.5" Loris, 2 S 14.5" Cairo 6" Live Oak 3" Wilmington, 7 N 17.5" Myrtle Beach 14" Sapelo Island 4.7" Mayport 2.9" Hofmann Forest 16.5" Conway 13.5" Fort Stewart 4.3" Jacksonville Beach 2.5" Cherry Point MCAS 16" Brookgreen Gardens 11.3" Quitman, 2 NW 4" Jasper 2" Wilmington airport 15.3" Givhans Ferry, 2 10.1" Brunswick airport 4" Jacksonville NAS 1" ESE Southport, 5 N 15" Charleston airport 8" Atkinson, 2 W 4" Monticello 1" Cape Hatteras airport 13.3" Marion 8" Savannah airport 3.6" Tallahassee airport 1" Bayboro, 3 E 13" Andrews 8" Douglas 3.3" Madison 1" New River MCAS 12.7" Lake City 7.5" Brooklet, 1 W 3" Jacksonville airport 0.8" Cedar Island 12" Beaufort MCAS 6.5" Patterson 3" Myakka River St. T Park Willard, 4 SW 11" Dillon 6" Surrency 2.7" Daytona Beach T airport Belhaven, 3 NE 10.3" Summerville, 4 W 5.8" Claxton 2.5" Crescent City T Whiteville, 7 NW 10.2" Beaufort 5" Newington 2.5" Gainesville airport T Trenton 10.2" Kingstree 4.8" Alma Bacon 2.3" Tampa airport T airport Clinton, 2 NE 10" Florence airport 4.3" Glennville 2" Clermont T Warsaw, 5 E 10" Walterboro, 1 SW 4.2" Homerville 2" Whiting Field NAS T New Bern airport 8.8" Yemassee 3.6" Colquitt, 2 W 2" Apalachicola airport T Washington, 4 W 8" Effingham 3" Waycross airport 1.6" Pensacola airport T Goldsboro, S. J. AFB 8" Hampton, 1 S 3" Metter 1.5" Crestview airport T Kinston airport 8" Bamberg 2" Preston 1" Pensacola NAS T Williamston, 1 E 6.5" Holly Hill 2" Moultrie, 2 ESE 1" Plymouth, 5 E 6" Orangeburg 2" Valdosta, 3 E 0.8" Virginia Edenton 6" Wedgefield 1" Abbeville T Kinston 6" Columbia, USC T Americus, 3 SW T Back Bay NWR 1" Dunn, 4 NW 6" Columbia airport T Ailey T Suffolk, Lake Kilby 0.5" Greenville 5" Pee Dee T Montezuma T Emporia, 1 WNW 0.3" Manteo airport 3" Cheraw T Columbus airport T Oceana NAS T Fayetteville, Pope 2.7" Springfield T Gibson T Norfolk airport T AFB Tarboro, 1 S 2" Pelion, 4 NW T Norfolk NAS T Scotland Neck 1.5" Smithfield 1" Laurinburg 1" Jackson 0.8" Roanoke Rapids T Raleigh, NCSU T Sanford, 8 NE T Neuse, 2 NE T The evolution of this historic event followed the general pattern for significant snow in the eastern Carolinas. The first hint of low pressure along the stalled arctic front showed up during the early morning hours of December 23rd on the Florida east coast.
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