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All storm pages · 1955 Atlantic season

Hurricane Ione 1955

Category 4 hurricane · Atlantic · September 10 to September 21, 1955

Ione made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane on September 19, 1955, with 105 mph winds. With a peak of 140 mph, it ranked tied for the second-strongest of the 13 storms of the 1955 season. It produced 14% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy. The name Ione is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Ione (1955) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N40°N50°N60°N70°N90°W80°W70°W60°W50°W40°W30°W20°W10°W0°E10°EHamptonNorth Carolina, 105 mphPeak 140 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 400 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Ione (1955) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160Sep 11Sep 13Sep 15Sep 17Sep 19Sep 21Sep 23Sep 25Sep 27mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 1,080 miles east-northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  2. Tropical storm 1,000 miles northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  3. Hurricane 220 miles north-northeast of Christiansted, the US Virgin Islands
  4. Major hurricane 315 miles east-northeast of Nassau, the Bahamas
  5. Peak 290 miles east-northeast of Nassau, the Bahamas; lowest pressure 938 mb
  6. Landfall North Carolina
  7. No longer tropical (extratropical low) 220 miles south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
  8. Last record far out at sea, at 73.0°N, 15.0°W

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind140 mph · tied 110th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure938 mb · tied 98th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy21.6 · 212th 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 1955 season

04080120160200Ione

Storm 8 of 13 in 1955, hurricane 7 of 9; it formed after Gladys and before Hilda. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of 5 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
Virginia Beach, Virginia23 mi75 mphSeptember 20
Norfolk, Virginia35 mi75 mphSeptember 20
Jacksonville, North Carolina42 mi105 mphSeptember 19
Greenville, North Carolina42 mi85 mphSeptember 19
Hampton, Virginia46 mi75 mphSeptember 20

Every storm within 50 miles of Virginia Beach, Virginia

Similar landfalls in North Carolina

Storms whose strongest landfall record in North Carolina came closest to Ione's 105 mph:

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