The re-analysis of Hurricane Connie August 12, 1955 and Ione September 19,1955

The decade of the 1950s was very active for hurricane activity in the Middle Atlantic and Northeastern portions of the United States. According to the Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT) there were five hurricanes of Category three or greater intensity which made landfall in the region in 1954 and 1955. Two of the hurricanes, Connie in August 1955 and Ione in September 1955, made landfall on the North Carolina coast.

The National Hurricane Center's (NHC) North Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT) of six hourly positions and intensities was created in the 1960s in support of the Apollo space program to help provide statistical track forecast guidance for tropical storms and hurricanes (Jarvinen et al. 1984). This database is the official record for tropical cyclone intensities in the Atlantic basin.

Hurricane Research Division (HRD) hurricane wind field (H* wind) six-hourly wind re-analyses of Hurricanes Connie and Ione using surface hourly reports, ship reports, radar and aircraft reconnaissance data suggests to the author that both hurricanes were Category 2 intensity at landfall. This revision, subject to the approval of the NHC Best Track Change Committee, would substantially reduces the number of land-falling major hurricanes listed in the historical record for the coast of North Carolina.