From my own tracking archives- it looks like Hazel was NOT a category four hurricane at landfall. I used the best track (HURDAT) data found at the NHC site and it clearly shows that the winds were only about 130 mph- if that. See for yourselves:
0*302 778 120 0*328 787 110 937E 368 782 80 970*
That's 30.2 77.8 and ~140mph, 32.8 78.7 ~130mph and 36.8 78.2 ~90 mph
These are times right up before landfall. The pressure was quite low (that's the 937E thing)- but the last plot before landfall shows 130 mph. This is quite strong- but I do not think that Hazel was a cat-4 at landfall. Your thoughts?
Apparently Hazel was not a cat-4 at landfall???
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hurricanetrack
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SouthernWx
Hazel is one that I've wondered about for years whether or not it was a cat-4 at landfall.....even though both storm surge (16-17') and central pressure at landfall (938 mb) warrant it.
In all honesty, there's no way of knowing. There was no recon in the hurricane at time of landfall...no radar data I've ever seen, and no satellites in 1954. The only anemometer I know of in the landfall area to survive the hurricane was at Myrtle Beach, SC....and it measured 106 mph winds in the west eyewall (and the hurricane was moving at an exceptional forward speed....40-45 mph), which probably meant winds far less west of the eye than east.
In fact, the excessive forward speed may have made Hazel's winds even stronger...adding momentum to that eastern eyewall as it made landfall. One thing is certain, Hazel was an extremely destructive hurricane....with many beachfront areas from near the SC/NC border to southeast of Wilmington completely obliterated....every home destroyed. Every fishing pier along the North Carolina coast south of Cedar Island was destroyed.
Due to the fast forward speed, hurricane conditions occurred along and east of the hurricane's path into the Northeast U.S., with 113 mph winds recorded at Central Park in New York City. Also severe damage and many fatalities occurred in southeastern Canada from wind damage and severe flooding.
In all honesty, there's no way of knowing. There was no recon in the hurricane at time of landfall...no radar data I've ever seen, and no satellites in 1954. The only anemometer I know of in the landfall area to survive the hurricane was at Myrtle Beach, SC....and it measured 106 mph winds in the west eyewall (and the hurricane was moving at an exceptional forward speed....40-45 mph), which probably meant winds far less west of the eye than east.
In fact, the excessive forward speed may have made Hazel's winds even stronger...adding momentum to that eastern eyewall as it made landfall. One thing is certain, Hazel was an extremely destructive hurricane....with many beachfront areas from near the SC/NC border to southeast of Wilmington completely obliterated....every home destroyed. Every fishing pier along the North Carolina coast south of Cedar Island was destroyed.
Due to the fast forward speed, hurricane conditions occurred along and east of the hurricane's path into the Northeast U.S., with 113 mph winds recorded at Central Park in New York City. Also severe damage and many fatalities occurred in southeastern Canada from wind damage and severe flooding.
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