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Hurricane Ophelia was a very slow moving system which repeatedly wavered back and forth between tropical storm and hurricane strength. The storm initially formed over the Bahamas and stalled just east of Cape Canaveral, FL. Its slow movement and its position just outside the Gulf Stream current meant that Ophelia fought cool, upwelled water througout much of its life. Although weakening back to a tropical storm as it stalled about 250 miles south of Wilmington on September 12th, the storm strengthened again as it began to move and encountered warm water. Ophelia moved parallel to the southeast NC coast September 14th directly over the Gulf Stream. This allowed Ophelia to intensify to a strong category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of around 85 mph. Gusts over 90 mph were later recorded at the Cape Lookout CMAN station. Ophelia crawled along the southern Outer Banks September 14 and 15th producing tremendous rainfall amounts and serious beach erosion.
Click an option below to explore the effects of Ophelia on Southeast North Carolina
Wrightsville Beach || Home - Wilmington, NC || Pictures and Data