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Hurricane Floyd (1999)

Hurricane Floyd was a Category 4 hurricane at its peak, with 155 mph winds and a lowest pressure of 921 mb, per NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Modeled winds reached tropical-storm force (39 mph) at 11 of the cities we track; the strongest was Wilmington, NC, with a modeled peak gust of 105 mph.

Peak strength155 mph winds (1-minute)
Category 4
Cities with tropical-storm-force windsModeled, of the cities we track
11
LandfallsFirst September 14, 1999
3
Lowest pressure
921 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 Floyd’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. September 14, 1999, Category 3 at 121 mph, in the Bahamas
  2. September 14, 1999, Category 3 at 127 mph, in the Bahamas
  3. September 16, 1999, Category 2 at 104 mph, about 29 miles from Wilmington, NC

Modeled winds at cities (11)

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

CityPeak gustSustainedClosest passPeak
Wilmington, NC105 mph85 mph7 milesSep 16, 1999, 2:00 AM EDT
Myrtle Beach, SC91 mph74 mph48 milesSep 16, 1999, 2:00 AM EDT
Fayetteville, NC67 mph54 mph90 milesSep 16, 1999, 2:15 AM EDT
Virginia Beach, VA64 mph52 mph5 milesSep 16, 1999, 9:45 AM EDT
Providence, RI57 mph47 mph39 milesSep 17, 1999, 2:00 AM EDT
Charleston, SC56 mph46 mph87 milesSep 16, 1999, 2:00 AM EDT
Norwich, CT54 mph44 mph22 milesSep 17, 1999, 2:00 AM EDT
Boston, MA54 mph44 mph29 milesSep 17, 1999, 3:45 AM EDT
Raleigh, NC53 mph43 mph96 milesSep 16, 1999, 2:15 AM EDT
Durham, NC49 mph40 mph114 milesSep 16, 1999, 2:15 AM EDT
Worcester, MA48 mph39 mph3 milesSep 17, 1999, 1:00 AM EDT

What happened

Floyd crossed the northern Bahamas as a major hurricane, then made landfall near Cape Fear, North Carolina, at 0630 UTC (2:30 a.m. EDT) on September 16, 1999, as a Category 2 hurricane with estimated winds near 90 knots (104 mph).1 Its center crossed far eastern North Carolina, passed over the Norfolk, Virginia, area around 11 a.m. EDT, then moved quickly along the Delmarva and New Jersey coasts as a tropical storm and reached Long Island by 8 p.m. EDT that evening.1 An anemometer near Topsail Beach measured sustained winds of 83 knots (96 mph) and a gust of 106 knots (122 mph).1 Storm surge of up to 9 to 10 feet was reported along the North Carolina coast.1 A tornado in Perquimans County destroyed two houses and damaged three or four others, and spotters reported at least ten tornadoes in the Newport and Morehead City warning area that apparently caused some structural damage.1

Rain totals reached 15 to 20 inches in parts of eastern North Carolina and Virginia, Wilmington recorded 19.06 inches, and 12 to 14 inches fell in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.1 The Tar River at Tarboro crested at 41.51 feet, 22 feet above flood stage.2 When Princeville's levee broke, floodwater reached 30 feet deep in parts of the town, and 600 homes there were destroyed or badly damaged.2 NHC counts 56 deaths in the United States, 35 of them in North Carolina, most from drowning in freshwater flooding, and puts US damage at $6.9 billion.1

Sources

  1. 1. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Preliminary Report: Hurricane Floyd, 7 to 17 September 1999
  2. 2. North Carolina State Climate Office: Floyd's Flooding Overwhelmed Eastern North Carolina

Best track (50 positions)

TimeStatusWindPressurePosition
Sep 7, 18:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph1008 mb14.6°N, 45.6°W
Sep 8, 00:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph1007 mb15.0°N, 46.9°W
Sep 8, 06:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph1005 mb15.3°N, 48.2°W
Sep 8, 12:00 UTCTropical storm46 mph1003 mb15.8°N, 49.6°W
Sep 8, 18:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph1000 mb16.3°N, 51.1°W
Sep 9, 00:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph1000 mb16.7°N, 52.6°W
Sep 9, 06:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph1003 mb17.1°N, 53.9°W
Sep 9, 12:00 UTCTropical storm58 mph1003 mb17.3°N, 55.1°W
Sep 9, 18:00 UTCTropical storm69 mph996 mb17.9°N, 56.3°W
Sep 10, 00:00 UTCTropical storm69 mph995 mb18.3°N, 57.2°W
Sep 10, 06:00 UTCTropical storm69 mph990 mb18.6°N, 58.2°W
Sep 10, 12:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane81 mph989 mb19.3°N, 58.8°W
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