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Hurricane Carol (1954)

Hurricane Carol was a Category 3 hurricane at its peak, with 115 mph winds and a lowest pressure of 955 mb, per NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Modeled winds reached tropical-storm force (39 mph) at 18 of the cities we track; the strongest was Providence, RI, with a modeled peak gust of 117 mph.

Peak strength115 mph winds (1-minute)
Category 3
Cities with tropical-storm-force windsModeled, of the cities we track
18
LandfallsFirst August 31, 1954
2
Lowest pressure
955 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 Carol’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 31, 1954, Category 3 at 115 mph, about 45 miles from Norwich, CT
  2. August 31, 1954, Category 3 at 115 mph, about 18 miles from Norwich, CT

Modeled winds at cities (18)

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

CityPeak gustSustainedClosest passPeak
Providence, RI117 mph95 mph20 milesAug 31, 1954, 12:00 PM GMT-4
Boston, MA102 mph83 mph32 milesAug 31, 1954, 12:45 PM GMT-4
Norwich, CT100 mph81 mph10 milesAug 31, 1954, 10:45 AM GMT-4
Portland, ME88 mph72 mph56 milesAug 31, 1954, 2:45 PM GMT-4
Worcester, MA83 mph67 mph7 milesAug 31, 1954, 12:00 PM GMT-4
Manchester, NH78 mph63 mph2 milesAug 31, 1954, 1:15 PM GMT-4
New Haven, CT74 mph60 mph45 milesAug 31, 1954, 10:30 AM GMT-4
Hartford, CT71 mph58 mph42 milesAug 31, 1954, 10:45 AM GMT-4
Wilmington, NC68 mph56 mph82 milesAug 30, 1954, 1:45 PM GMT-4
Bridgeport, CT66 mph54 mph56 milesAug 31, 1954, 10:00 AM GMT-4
Waterbury, CT65 mph53 mph57 milesAug 31, 1954, 10:45 AM GMT-4
Atlantic City, NJ65 mph53 mph81 milesAug 31, 1954, 7:00 AM GMT-4
Show all 18

What happened

Carol formed near the central Bahamas on August 25, 1954, then sped north-northeast and made landfall on Long Island, New York, and in Connecticut as a Category 3 hurricane on August 31.1 NHC's best track puts the Long Island landfall at 1400 UTC and the Connecticut landfall an hour later, both with 100-knot (115 mph) winds.2,1

Sustained winds of 80 to 100 mph were reported across much of eastern Connecticut, all of Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts.1 Block Island, Rhode Island, reported a 130 mph gust, and gusts of 100 to 125 mph hit much of the rest of the region.1 Storm surge flooded the New England coast from Long Island northward and put 8 to 10 feet of water in downtown Providence.1 NHC counts 60 deaths and $461 million in damage in the United States.1

Sources

  1. 1. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Hurricane History: Carol and Edna 1954
  2. 2. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT2), 1851 to 2025

Best track (30 positions)

TimeStatusWindPressurePosition
Aug 25, 12:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph23.8°N, 75.0°W
Aug 25, 18:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph25.0°N, 75.5°W
Aug 26, 00:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph26.1°N, 76.0°W
Aug 26, 06:00 UTCTropical storm46 mph27.0°N, 76.3°W
Aug 26, 12:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph27.8°N, 76.4°W
Aug 26, 18:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph1002 mb28.5°N, 76.3°W
Aug 27, 00:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph29.0°N, 76.2°W
Aug 27, 06:00 UTCTropical storm58 mph1002 mb29.3°N, 76.3°W
Aug 27, 12:00 UTCTropical storm69 mph995 mb29.6°N, 76.4°W
Aug 27, 18:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane81 mph984 mb29.8°N, 76.5°W
Aug 28, 00:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane92 mph981 mb30.0°N, 76.7°W
Aug 28, 06:00 UTCCategory 2 hurricane98 mph30.2°N, 76.9°W
Show all 30