10 New Tropical Storms Discovered in NOAA Reanalysis of 1956-60

July 21,2016
A NOAA reanalysis of the 1956-1960 Atlantic hurricane seasons has discovered 10 tropical storms that were previously undocumented.
Four of the newly identified tropical storms were in 1956, followed by three in 1959, two in 1958 and one in 1960. Many were over the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, which, at the time, would have been hard to detect, since the satellite era did not begin until the 1960s.
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Interestingly, one of the new tropical storms made landfall in south Florida on Oct. 15, 1956. The storm reportedly caused significant flooding in the state.
The intensities of several hurricanes that made landfall in the U.S. during that 5-year period have also been adjusted in the NOAA database.

The tracks of the 10 new tropical storms discovered in the reanalysis.

In recent years, NOAA has reanalyzed several decades worth of hurricane seasons dating back as far as 1851. NOAA said the revisions are done "using an enhanced collection of historical meteorological data in the context of today's scientific understanding of hurricanes and analysis techniques."

Intensity Adjusted For Three U.S. Hurricane Landfalls

The intensities of Hurricanes Audrey, Donna and Gracie, which all made U.S. landfalls in that five-year period, have been adjusted, based on information gathered in the reanalysis.
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An elderly woman in an apron and bonnet stands in front of a house, which was hit by a boat when Hurricane Audrey struck Louisiana. (Shel Hershorn/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Hurricane Audrey

• NOAA downgraded Audrey from a Category 4 to a Category 3 at landfall in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, on June 27, 1957.
• Audrey remains the only major (Category 3 or higher) hurricane to make a June U.S. landfall.
• 550 people were killed by Audrey in Texas and Louisiana.

Hurricane Donna

• Donna made three landfalls along the U.S. East Coast in September 1960.
• The reanalysis verified that Donna made landfall as a Category 4 in Florida. The second two landfalls in North Carolina and New York have been adjusted downward from Category 3 to Category 2.
• Donna is the only hurricane of record to produce hurricane-force winds in Florida, the mid-Atlantic states and New England, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Hurricane Gracie

• Gracie made landfall in South Carolina on September 30, 1959.
• NOAA upgraded Gracie's intensity at landfall from a Category 3 to Category 4 in the reanalysis.
• An estimated 10 deaths were blamed on Gracie. A greater loss of life may have been avoided thanks to evacuations.

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