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All storm pages · 1955 Atlantic season

Hurricane Connie 1955

Category 4 hurricane · Atlantic · August 3 to August 15, 1955

Connie generated 20% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy, more than any other 1955 storm. It made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane on August 12, 1955, with 100 mph winds. With a peak of 140 mph, it ranked tied for the second-strongest of the 13 storms of the 1955 season. The name Connie is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Connie (1955) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N40°N80°W70°W60°W50°W40°WBaltimoreVirginia BeachNorth Carolina, 100 mphPeak 140 mphFirst recordDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 400 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Connie (1955) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160Aug 4Aug 6Aug 8Aug 10Aug 12Aug 14mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) far out at sea, at 15.3°N, 40.0°W
  2. Tropical storm 1,120 miles northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  3. Hurricane 740 miles east-northeast of Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados
  4. Major hurricane 140 miles north-northeast of Christiansted, the US Virgin Islands
  5. Peak 240 miles north-northeast of Puerto Plata, the Dominican Republic; lowest pressure 944 mb
  6. Landfall North Carolina
  7. Last record (tropical storm) 30 miles northeast of Alpena, Michigan

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind140 mph · tied 110th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure944 mb · tied 140th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy31.6 · 82nd of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone11.8 days · tied 147th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 1955 season

04080120160200Connie

Storm 2 of 13 in 1955, hurricane 1 of 9; it formed after Brenda and before Diane. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of at least 8 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
State College, Pennsylvania2 mi50 mphAugust 13
Annapolis, Maryland4 mi60 mphAugust 13
Baltimore, Maryland5 mi60 mphAugust 13
London, Ontario, Canada5 mi45 mphAugust 14
Norfolk, Virginia8 mi80 mphAugust 13
Virginia Beach, Virginia9 mi80 mphAugust 13
Erie, Pennsylvania9 mi50 mphAugust 14
Hampton, Virginia11 mi75 mphAugust 13

Every storm within 50 miles of Baltimore, Maryland

Similar landfalls in North Carolina

Storms whose strongest landfall record in North Carolina came closest to Connie's 100 mph:

  • Dorian (2019)100 mph, September 6, 2019
  • Arthur (2014)100 mph, July 4, 2014
  • Isaias (2020)90 mph, August 4, 2020
  • Florence (2018)90 mph, September 14, 2018

All 69 storms with a landfall record in North Carolina

Also peaked at 140 mph

Of 34 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Carrie (1957)945 mb, no landfall record
  • Cleo (1958)947 mb, no landfall record
  • Fox (1950)946 mb, no landfall record
  • Hilda (1964)941 mb, landfall in Cuba