Today is October 15, 2024, which marks exactly 70 years since Hurricane Hazel made landfall near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Hazel, the only Category 4 hurricane on record to affect North Carolina, produced confirmed major hurricane winds in Wilmington (source: NWS Newport/Morehead City NC).

Hazel’s development is traced to a tropical wave that likely exited the west coast of Africa in late September 1954. On October 5, the wave organized into Tropical Storm Hazel, located just east of the Windward Islands. Hazel quickly intensified after formation while moving very slowly westward, becoming a Category 1 hurricane as it passed through the southern Windward Islands. Taking a very similar track to Hurricane Matthew 62 years later, Hazel continued to move slowly westward for the next few days while maintaining its intensity. Hazel began to intensify at a faster rate on October 9, strengthening into a Category 3 major hurricane at 18:00 UTC later that day. On October 10, the major hurricane took a turn to the north while remaining steady in intensity. Hazel then made landfall along the southwestern tip of Haiti, weakening slightly as it brushed the coast of the island country. It is likely that Hazel’s interaction with the rough terrain of Hispaniola caused the hurricane’s inner core to be disrupted and wind field to expand significantly, as we commonly see with hurricanes. After making a second landfall in the northwestern tip of Haiti, Hazel took a turn to the northwest while remaining a Category 2 hurricane.

Hazel then passed through the southeastern Bahamas and began to accelerate northwestward. While normally in mid-October the sea surface temperatures immediately off the coast of the Carolinas are too cool to support a strong hurricane, Hazel was able to intensify to its peak intensity as a Category 4 hurricane and maintain this intensity through landfall. This was likely due to a jet interaction and Hazel’s interaction with a cold front, which resulted in Hazel’s central pressure falling to 938 mb (27.69 mb). Hazel’s maximum sustained winds at landfall just north of Myrtle Beach early on October 15 were estimated to be 115 knots (130 mph), a low-end Category 4 hurricane. While tropical cyclones often weaken quickly after moving inland, Hazel transitioned to a very powerful post-tropical cyclone near Louisburg, North Carolina with winds near 90 mph later that day, as it turned due north. Hazel’s fast northward movement and baroclinic forcing resulted in a much slower weakening rate than usual, and the powerful post-tropical cyclone maintained hurricane force winds as far north as central Pennsylvania. Hazel then began to slow down and weaken as it moved into Ontario, Canada, dissipating early on October 18th.

I had the pleasure of speaking to Gladys Melvin, 90, a resident of Clarkton, North Carolina who survived Hazel. Melvin, who had never experienced a hurricane before, moved from the United Kingdom to North Carolina the previous year.

“It was a terrible experience,” said Melvin. “Melvin, who was in a mobile home at the time, said: “the ceiling started to blow off. “It was real scary.” Melvin’s husband was at work in South Carolina at the time.

Melvin noted that the impacts of Hazel were not well forecast in the area. “It had not been predicted at all.” She stayed in the mobile home, without power or air conditioning by herself. Local roads were inaccessible due to downed trees. The impacts of the hurricane were so severe that Melvin considered returning to the UK. “I was ready to leave then,” said Melvin.

The impacts of Hazel were felt throughout Haiti, as well as the entire east coast, including Canada. Hazel’s effects resulted in approximately 400-1000 fatalities in Haiti. Perhaps the most severe impacts along the United States east coast occurred in Oak Island, North Carolina, which felt the brunt of the eastern eyewall. According to CBS WFMY News 2, Hazel’s 17-foot storm surge destroyed 352 of the 357 structures on the island. Hazel’s death toll in the United States was 95, 19 of which were in North Carolina. Hazel also caused severe damage in Canada, specifically the Toronto area. Hazel, which was still producing winds near hurricane-force as a tropical cyclone, caused an estimated 85 fatalities and a damage total of an estimated 25-100 Million Canadian Dollars (1954).

Hazel was only the second-ever Atlantic hurricane to have its name retired. In 1953, forecasters chose a list of 23 female names, including Hazel. The exact same list of names was used again in 1954, and after Hazel’s severe impacts, the name was retired from the naming list and never used again. The current naming list with rotating male and female names was not used until 1979.