Hilton Head Island,South Carolina's history with tropical systems
current weather

(br)=brush (ts)=Tropical Storm (bd)=Back Door,meaning coming from over land from opposite coast.Not all names are noted,also storms before 1950 were not named.Not every stat on every storm description is given(since 1871).

Years within 60 miles
1871-2bd,1873bdbr,1874bdbr,1878,1881br,1882br,1884br,1885,1893br,1893,1894br
1898,1910tsbr,1911,1913tsbr,1924bdtsbr,1927ts,1928bdts,1934ts,1940,1944ts
1945ts,1947,1952,1953br,1957bdts,1959,1964bdts,1966bdts,1976tsbr,1979
1981tsbr,1985,1988br,1989br,2002ts,2006tsbdbr
38 times in 139yrs end of 2009

Names from list above
Able,Gracie,Dora,Alma,Dottie,David,Dennis,Bob,Chris,Hugo ,Kyle,

How often this area gets affected?
brushed or hit every 3.66 years

Average years between direct hurricane hits.(usually within 40 miles to include small hurricanes)
(13h)once every 10.70 years

Statistically when this area should be affected next
before the end of the 2010 season
This is just a statistical average & does not mean the area will be affected by that year

Last affected by
2002 Oct 11th TS Kyle just offshore with 45mph winds while moving NE

This areas hurricane past
1885 aug 25th a hurricane from the south
1893 vey heavy damage from a major hurricane just south aug 27, 120mph total devestation 1000s killed wind field map
1947 a cat 1 hits just south after being cloud seeded causing it to turn back towards the U.S some claim.Winds were around 85mph
1959 gracie 125mph winds hits the area oct 1st area had gusts to 138mph heavy property & crop damage she spun off 11 tornadoes which killed 12 people in the N.E this was a fast moving storm but still dumped 11 inches of rain barometer 28.05 11 ft s.s hit at 11;00am
1979 david hits the area as a cat 1 with 75mph winds(minor damage) by the northward moving storm
Hugo brushed the area to the north in 1989 with 140mph winds north by 75 miles considered a brush due to largeness of hugo. more on Hurricane Hugo here


Text Sources:The Major Hurricanes to affect the Bahamas Wayne Neely.....Hurricane Watch Dr. Bob Sheets & Jack Williams.....Inside the Hurricane Pete Davies.....The Ship & the Storm Jim Carrier.....Lunatic Wind William Price Fox...Sudden Sea R.A Scotti.....Hurricane Almanac Bryan Norcross.....Divine Wind Kerry Emanuel.....Florida's Hurricane History Jay Barnes.....Stormscaping Pamela Crawford.....Hurricanes and the Middle Atlantic States Rick Scwartz..... Killer Cane Robert Mykle..... Isaac's Storm Erik Larson.....Florida Hurricanes & Tropical Storms John M. Williams & Iver W.Duedall.....Path of destruction John McQuaid & Mark Schleifstein.....Sun sentinel newspaper(microfilm).....Miami Herald newspaper(microfilm).....NOAA research division.....hurricanecity.com (calculations) Jim Williams.....plus many more.............
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