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All storm pages · 1954 Atlantic season

Hurricane Carol 1954

Category 3 hurricane · Atlantic · August 25 to August 31, 1954

Carol's 115 mph landfall in New York on August 31, 1954 ranks tied for the second-strongest of the 19 storms with a landfall record there. With a peak of 115 mph, it ranked the third-strongest of the 16 storms of the 1954 season. It produced 12% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy. The name Carol is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Carol (1954) from the best-track record, coloured by strength30°N40°N90°W80°W70°W60°WNew York, 115 mphPeak 115 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 300 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Carol (1954) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 404080120Aug 26Aug 27Aug 28Aug 29Aug 30Aug 31Sep 1mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 170 miles east-southeast of Nassau, the Bahamas
  2. Tropical storm 110 miles northeast of Nassau, the Bahamas
  3. Hurricane 260 miles north-northeast of Freeport, the Bahamas
  4. Major hurricane 105 miles east of Virginia Beach, Virginia
  5. Peak 105 miles east of Virginia Beach, Virginia; lowest pressure 955 mb
  6. Landfall New York
  7. Landfall New York: Category 3, 115 mph, 957 mb
  8. No longer tropical (extratropical low) 10 miles north-northeast of Manchester, New Hampshire
  9. Last record 25 miles east of Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind115 mph · tied 281st of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure955 mb · tied 214th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy13.4 · tied 398th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone6.1 days · 704th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 1954 season

04080120160Carol

Storm 6 of 16 in 1954, hurricane 2 of 7; it formed after Barbara and before Dolly. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of 1 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
New Haven, Connecticut44 mi115 mphAugust 31

Every storm within 50 miles of New Haven, Connecticut

Similar landfalls in New York

Storms whose strongest landfall record in New York came closest to Carol's 115 mph:

All 19 storms with a landfall record in New York

Also peaked at 115 mph

Of 64 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Edna (1953)962 mb, no landfall record
  • Florence (1953)968 mb, landfall in Florida
  • Fox (1951)no pressure recorded, no landfall record
  • Jig (1950)no pressure recorded, no landfall record