1959 Atlantic hurricane season

Many storms, few strong ones

The Monthly Weather Review summary counted 11 tropical cyclones in 1959 against an average of ten over the previous 20 to 25 years. Seven reached hurricane intensity at some point, but apart from Gracie and Hannah the storms were weak, and forecasters doubted that Edith was a tropical storm at all. Most formed in the Gulf of Mexico or the western Atlantic, and August brought almost nothing: easterlies over the tropical Atlantic were weaker than usual that month.

The site's archive holds 14 tropical storms, 7 hurricanes and 2 major hurricanes, with an accumulated cyclone energy of 77.1. Reanalysis by Sandy Delgado and Chris Landsea added three tropical storms to the database, two in August and one in September. The Weather Bureau put US damage at about $23 million with 24 deaths, 22 of them from Gracie, in 1959 dollars.

Arlene, Beulah and a June hurricane

Arlene formed in the central Gulf on 28 May, stalled, then crossed the Louisiana coast between Weeks Island and Point au Fer late on 30 May; the reanalysis puts landfall at 55 kt. Houma recorded 13.13 inches of rain in three days and New Orleans airport 11.09 inches in 24 hours. One man drowned in the surf at Galveston. Beulah, a short-lived June storm in the western Gulf, turned south into Mexico below Tampico with winds under 30 kt at landfall.

While Beulah drifted in the western Gulf, a depression formed in the east-central Gulf on 17 June. That night a tornado crossed Miami, causing about $1,500,000 in damage and many injuries, with the depression still some 350 miles west. The storm crossed central Florida on the night of 17 to 18 June; the reanalysis records a 40 kt landfall. Tides of 2.5 to 3 feet caused $156,000 damage from St. Petersburg to Naples.

Off the Florida east coast the storm deepened fast. A ship reported winds occasionally reaching 80 kt early on 19 June, and the lowest pressure recorded was 974 mb. The reanalysis raised its peak to 75 kt and kept the storm tropical until 18 UTC on 19 June, then brought it ashore over Nova Scotia early on 20 June as a strong extratropical cyclone. Press reports counted 33 deaths in the Maritime Provinces, mostly lobster fishermen. It became known as the Escuminac disaster, the worst fishing disaster in New Brunswick in 100 years.

Cindy and Debra in July

Hurricane Cindy formed from a cut-off low off the southeastern coast and came ashore between Charleston and Georgetown, South Carolina, early on 9 July, reaching hurricane force just offshore. The reanalysis assesses it as a 65 kt Category 1 at landfall. One man died near McClellanville when his car hit a fallen tree. Cindy re-intensified off New Jersey and crossed Cape Cod on 11 July, and its rain, 6 to 8 inches across central South Carolina with unofficial reports up to 15, helped end a drought.

Hurricane Debra grew from a weak circulation in the northwestern Gulf and strengthened close to the Texas coast, catching forecasters with few ship reports. It came ashore between Freeport and Galveston near midnight on 24 July. The reanalysis puts landfall at 05 UTC on 25 July at 75 kt, a Category 1, matching the archive peak. Brazos Floodgates reported winds of 70 to 78 kt with gusts to 91 kt, and the tide reached 7.9 feet at Morgan Point. No one died; damage in Brazoria, Galveston and eastern Harris counties came to about $6,685,000.

Gracie at Beaufort

Hurricane Gracie grew from a wave that aircraft checked daily from 18 September without finding a closed circulation until 22 September. With almost no steering current, Gracie wandered in nearly every direction between 22 and 27 September and swung between 78 kt and 45 kt. Once a strengthening high to the north set up an easterly current on 27 September, Gracie moved west-northwest and deepened. The archive places its 115 kt peak, Category 4, at 06 UTC on 29 September, with the season's lowest pressure of 951 hPa.

Gracie came ashore near Beaufort, South Carolina, around midday on 29 September. The reanalysis sets landfall at 17 UTC with 115 kt and 951 mb, a Category 4, raised from Category 3 in the earlier record. The Marine Corps air station at Beaufort measured 950 mb, a five-minute wind of 84 kt and estimated gusts to 120 kt. Landfall came near normal low tide, which kept the surge to about 9 to 12 feet, and no one died from tides or waves.

The Weather Bureau estimated damage at $14,000,000, with Beaufort suffering its worst wind damage on record. As the storm weakened and moved north along the Appalachians, a tornado at Ivy, near Charlottesville, Virginia, killed 12 people; 10 more died in South Carolina and Georgia, mostly in car accidents and from falling trees and live wires.

Hannah's long life and two Florida storms

Hurricane Hannah was already a hurricane when aircraft first reached it on 28 September and kept its strength for days while curving north about 200 miles west of Bermuda. The archive gives it a 105 kt peak on 30 September. The authors compared its long life to Carrie in 1957, and a balloon beacon developed by the Air Force and the Weather Bureau transmitted from Hannah's eye in early October.

Tropical Storm Irene came ashore near Pensacola early on 8 October with gusts to 48 kt, and tides reached 4.4 feet at Cedar Keys, far east of the centre. Ships in the southeastern Gulf reported hurricane-force winds in Judith on 17 October, prompting warnings from Punta Gorda to Cedar Keys, then weakened and came ashore near Boca Grande on 18 October; the reanalysis records a 55 kt landfall. Judith crossed to the Atlantic near Fort Pierce and regained hurricane force northeast of Great Abaco. The archive's last tropical-stage record falls on 22 October.