Hurricane Florence (1953)

Hurricane Florence

Category 3 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
September 26, 1953 weather map featuring Hurricane Florence
Formed	September 23, 1953
Dissipated	September 26, 1953
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 125 mph (205 km/h)
Lowest pressure	968 mbar (hPa); 28.59 inHg
Fatalities	None reported
Damage	$200,000 (1953 USD)
Areas affected	Jamaica, Cuba, Gulf Coast of the United States (Florida landfall), Southeast United States
Part of the 1953 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Florence was a minimal Atlantic hurricane that struck the Florida Panhandle in September of the 1953 season. The eighth storm and fifth hurricane of the season, Florence developed in the western Caribbean from a tropical wave near Jamaica on September 23. It produced heavy rainfall on the nearby island, and later caused damage in western Cuba. The storm quickly intensified into a hurricane over the Yucatán Channel, and as it moved north through the Gulf of Mexico, Florence's maximum sustained winds reached 125 mph (205 km/h). On September 26, the hurricane hit in a sparsely populated region of western Florida, and shortly after landfall became an extratropical cyclone.

Damage from Florence, with 421 houses damaged and another three destroyed. The winds destroyed the roofs of three evacuation shelters, resulting in one injury. The city of Apalachicola, Florida was temporarily isolated due to the storm's impact. There were no deaths associated with Florence, and damage totaled $200,000 (1953 USD, $1.79 million 2017 USD). After becoming extratropical, the remnants continued to the northeast, producing rainfall along its path before dissipating on September 28 southeast of New England.

The origins of Hurricane Florence were from a tropical wave that moved through the Lesser Antilles into the eastern Caribbean on September 21. The wave tracked generally westward, and spawned a tropical storm on September 23 about 100 mi (160 km) southeast of Jamaica. Given the name Florence, the storm steadily intensified after developing, although a well-defined circulation was not observed until September 24. That day, Florence attained hurricane status in the Yucatán Channel between the Yucatán Peninsula and the western tip of Cuba.