1940 South Carolina hurricane
| Category 2 hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
| Formed | August 5, 1940 |
|---|---|
| Dissipated | August 15, 1940 |
| Highest winds |
1-minute sustained: 100 mph (155 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 972 mbar (hPa); 28.7 inHg |
| Fatalities | 50 direct, 2 indirect |
| Damage | $13 million (1940 USD) |
| Areas affected | Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia |
| Part of the 1940 Atlantic hurricane season | |
The 1940 South Carolina hurricane was a Category 2 hurricane that struck the Georgia and South Carolina coast between August 11 and 12, 1940. After forming north of the Leeward Islands, the storm moved west-northwest, moving east of the Bahamas before resuming a west-northwest track towards the Southeastern United States. Hurricane warnings were in effect for the United States coastline near and north of where the center made landfall. A 13-foot storm tide was measured along the South Carolina coast, while over 15 inches (380 mm) of rain fell across northern North Carolina. Significant flooding and landslides struck Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia during the system's slow trek as a weakening tropical storm, and then as an extratropical cyclone, through the Southeast. The landslides which struck North Carolina were considered a once in a century event. Damages relating to the storm totaled $13 million (1940 USD) and 50 people perished.
Morning weather charts detected a "slight" disturbance between St. Martin and St. Thomas on August 5. Around 18:00 UTC that day, a tropical depression developed about 30 mi (48 km) west-northwest of Anegada in the British Virgin Islands.
The storm moved moving west-northwest near the Mona Passage, bringing squalls of 44 miles per hour (71 km/h) to San Juan, Puerto Rico. On August 6, the developing storm was near the southeastern Bahamas, bringing moderate to rough seas. The cyclone turned northward after its close approach to the southeastern Bahamas. By August 10 a ship reported that winds were hurricane force. In the afternoon of August 11, the hurricane made landfall near Beaufort, South Carolina where it moved inland and turned just northeast of Savannah, Georgia between 5 and 6 p.m. on the same day. Savannah's wind peaked at 73 miles per hour (117 km/h) and the pressure fell to 28.78 inches of mercury (975 hPa). It was the area's worst storm in 29 years. Hurricane-force winds were witnessed between Savannah and Charleston. Weakening into a tropical storm that evening, for the next four or five days the storm meandered inland as a weak tropical storm before evolving into an extratropical cyclone on the evening of August 14.
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