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Hurricane Barbara (1953)

Hurricane Barbara was a Category 1 hurricane at its peak, with 92 mph winds and a lowest pressure of 973 mb, per NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Modeled winds reached tropical-storm force (39 mph) at 3 of the cities we track; the strongest was Virginia Beach, VA, with a modeled peak gust of 80 mph.

Peak strength92 mph winds (1-minute)
Category 1
Cities with tropical-storm-force windsModeled, of the cities we track
3
LandfallsFirst August 14, 1953
3
Lowest pressure
973 mb

Track, wind field and cities

Select a piece of the track or a city for details.

  • Depression or weaker
  • Tropical storm
  • Hurricane, Category 1 or 2
  • Major hurricane, Category 3 to 5
  • Landfall
  • City (larger ring, stronger modeled gust)
  • Modeled wind field, 39 to 111 mph sustained (darker, stronger; orange 111 mph+)
Source: NOAA/NWS National Hurricane Center best track (HURDAT2). City winds and the wind field are modeled.

The shaded areas are where our model puts Hurricane Barbara’s sustained winds over open land at 39 mph or more (tropical-storm force), 58, 74 (hurricane force) and 111 mph (major hurricane force) at some point along its track. Modeled, not measured. How we model hurricane winds

Landfalls

  1. August 14, 1953, Category 1 at 92 mph, about 115 miles from Wilmington, NC
  2. August 14, 1953, Category 1 at 86 mph, about 95 miles from Virginia Beach, VA
  3. August 14, 1953, Category 1 at 81 mph, about 48 miles from Virginia Beach, VA

Modeled winds at cities (3)

Estimated peak winds for open, flat ground at each city’s center. Not measurements. How we model hurricane winds

CityPeak gustSustainedClosest passPeak
Virginia Beach, VA80 mph65 mph22 milesAug 14, 1953, 10:30 AM GMT-4
Wilmington, NC56 mph45 mph92 milesAug 13, 1953, 8:00 PM GMT-4
Atlantic City, NJ54 mph44 mph84 milesAug 14, 1953, 5:45 PM GMT-4

What happened

Barbara moved north from the Bahamas and hit the North Carolina coast between Morehead City and Ocracoke at about 10 p.m. on August 13, 1953.1,2 NHC's best track puts that landfall at 0300 UTC on August 14 with sustained winds of 80 knots (92 mph).3 The storm then moved north and northeast and went out to sea just south of Norfolk, Virginia.1

Winds at Norfolk reached 63 mph with gusts to 76 mph, and Cape Henry had sustained winds of 72 mph.1 Portsmouth, Virginia, had 9.3 inches of rain in 24 hours.1

Sources

  1. 1. NOAA Weather Prediction Center: Virginia Hurricane History: Late Twentieth Century
  2. 2. NOAA Weather Prediction Center: Hurricane Barbara - August 13-15, 1953
  3. 3. National Hurricane Center: Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT2), 1851-2024

Best track (26 positions)

TimeStatusWindPressurePosition
Aug 11, 06:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph22.8°N, 74.4°W
Aug 11, 12:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph23.8°N, 74.6°W
Aug 11, 18:00 UTCTropical storm46 mph25.2°N, 74.8°W
Aug 12, 00:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph26.6°N, 75.0°W
Aug 12, 06:00 UTCTropical storm63 mph27.9°N, 75.3°W
Aug 12, 12:00 UTCTropical storm69 mph1005 mb29.1°N, 75.6°W
Aug 12, 18:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane75 mph29.8°N, 75.9°W
Aug 13, 00:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane75 mph1002 mb30.5°N, 76.1°W
Aug 13, 06:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane75 mph31.3°N, 76.3°W
Aug 13, 12:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane75 mph995 mb32.3°N, 76.5°W
Aug 13, 18:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane81 mph987 mb33.4°N, 76.4°W
Aug 14, 00:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane92 mph34.6°N, 76.2°W
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