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Revision as of 03:40, 11 October 2005
| Duration | Sept. 20-30 |
| Highest winds | 140 mph sustained |
| Damages | $14,000,000 (1959 USD) |
| Fatalities | 22 |
| Areas affected | Bahamas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia |
| Part of the 1959 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Hurricane Gracie was a major hurricane that formed in September 1959, the strongest during the 1959 season. Gracie was a storm that was very difficult to forecast, with its movement unpredictable.
A tropical wave developed into a tropical depression near the north coast of Hispaniola on September 20th. After moving west-northwestward for a day, it turned northeastward, where upper level winds were very favorable and steering currents were very weak; a deadly scenario. On the 22nd it became a tropical storm, followed by reaching hurricane strength later that night. It turned to the east on the 25th, and turned back west on the 27th. Then, with a firm anticyclone in place and set steering currents, it moved steadily west-northwestward.
Gracie reached her peak of 140 mph winds on the 29th, but cooler air and land interaction weakened it to a 120 mph major hurricane at the time of its Beaufort, South Carolina landfall that night. After landfall, Gracie moved north and became extratropical on the 30th. Several tornadoes accompanied the dying storm through Virginia and twelve people were killed near Charlottesville, Virginia. Gracie also killed 10 people in South Carolina and Georgia, mainly due to wind and rain induced automobile accidents, falling trees and electrocution by live wires.
Gracie was the last major hurricane to strike South Carolina before Hurricane Hugo, 30 years later.
The name Gracie was retired and will never be used for a hurricane again; this was before the formal lists were created, so it was not replaced with any particular name.