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All storm pages · 1953 Atlantic season

Hurricane Carol 1953

Category 5 hurricane · Atlantic · August 28 to September 8, 1953

Carol reached Category 5 with 160 mph winds, one of 44 Atlantic storms to do so since 1851. No other storm of the 1953 Atlantic season matched its 160 mph peak; the season had 14 storms. It generated 33% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy, more than any other 1953 storm.

Track of Carol (1953) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N40°N50°N60°N80°W70°W60°W50°W40°W30°W20°W10°WNova Scotia, 85 mphNew Brunswick, 80 mphPeak 160 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 4Category 500 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Carol (1953) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160200Aug 29Aug 31Sep 2Sep 4Sep 6Sep 8mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) far out at sea, at 14.0°N, 20.5°W
  2. Tropical storm far out at sea, at 14.0°N, 38.4°W
  3. Hurricane 890 miles northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  4. Major hurricane 670 miles east of Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados
  5. Peak 250 miles northeast of Saint John's, Antigua and Barbuda; lowest pressure 929 mb
  6. Landfall Nova Scotia: Category 1, 85 mph
  7. Landfall New Brunswick: Category 1, 80 mph
  8. No longer tropical (extratropical low) 195 miles north of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
  9. Last record 915 miles north-northeast of Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind160 mph · tied 28th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure929 mb · tied 53rd of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy32.7 · 77th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone10.8 days · tied 196th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 1953 season

04080120160200Carol

Storm 4 of 14 in 1953, hurricane 2 of 7; it formed after Barbara and before Storm 5 of 1953. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of 2 towns or cities of 10,000 people or more while the system was tropical. Distances are to the interpolated track line, not the storm's edge.

PlaceClosestWind thenDate
Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada12 mi80 mphSeptember 7
Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada27 mi70 mphSeptember 7

Every storm within 50 miles of Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada

Similar landfalls in Nova Scotia

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Nova Scotia came closest to Carol's 85 mph:

  • Gustav (2002)90 mph, September 12, 2002
  • Hortense (1996)80 mph, September 15, 1996
  • Fiona (2022)100 mph, September 24, 2022
  • Earl (2010)75 mph, September 4, 2010

All 16 storms with a landfall record in Nova Scotia

Also peaked at 160 mph

Of 16 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time: