Big Bertha Blasts North Carolina! - July 5th to 17th, 1996

Bertha was an early-season Cape Verde Hurricane that moved across the islands of the northeastern Caribbean Sea as a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir/Simpson scale and made landfall on the North Carolina coast near Wilmington as a category 2 hurricane. Bertha's one-minute winds reached their maximum value of 100 knots on 9 July, while located to the north of Puerto Rico. The last Hurricane to reach this strength, this early in the season, was Alma in 1966 (117K GIF) in the eastern Gulf of Mexico with 110 knots. Bertha is responsible for an estimated eight deaths and $250 million in U.S. damages.

Bertha Comes Ashore In North Carolina

Hurricane Bertha slammed into North Carolina's southern coastline on July 12, 1996 with sustained winds of approximately 105 MPH, and gusts reported as high as 144 MPH (Topsail Beach--unconfirmed). Damages were initially estimated to exceed $60 million for homes and structures, and over $150 million for agriculture. Corn, tobacco, and other crops received severe damage from the storm. Rainfall totals of over 5 inches were common in eastern NC.

Bertha originated from a tropical wave which moved from Africa to the Atlantic on 1 July. A weak circulation was first detected on satellite imagery on 3 July, centered about 500 n mi south of the Cape Verde Islands in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean. The track of the circulation center begins on 5 July, when the circulation is believed to have reached the surface and become a tropical depression, in the central tropical Atlantic.

Bertha followed a fairly smooth curved path around the western periphery of the Atlantic subtropical high pressure ridge. This ridge changed little during Bertha's existence and a weak mid-level trough persisted in the western North Atlantic. For three days, the depression moved toward the west-northwest at the fast forward speed of 20 to 25 knots and strengthened to a hurricane with 1-min. maximum sustained winds of 75 knots on the 8th as the center moved across the Leeward and Virgin Islands of the northeastern Caribbean. The center moved between Antigua and Barbuda at 0600 UTC on the 8th, across St. Barthelemy, Anguilla, and St Martin, just north of St. Thomas, and over the British Virgin Islands by 1800 UTC.

The track gradually turned northwestward on the 9th and maximum sustained winds reached 100 knots at 0600 UTC. Bertha was centered 120 n mi north of Puerto Rico at this time, but earlier passed within 30 n mi of this island. The strongest winds were located in the northeast quadrant of the hurricane and most of Puerto Rico experienced only tropical storm conditions, except for Culebra, over which hurricane-force winds might have occurred.

Moving northwestward at a slower forward speed of 15 to 20 knots, the center of Bertha moved parallel to the Bahama islands, passing 40 to 60 n mi northeast of the Turks and Caicos islands, San Salvador, Eleuthera and the Abacos. Again, the strongest winds were located to the northeast of the center, but 65-knot sustained winds might have reached some of the above mentioned islands.

Continuing on its gradual turn, the track became north-northwestward on the 10th and 11th and the center moved parallel to the coast of Florida and Georgia at a distance of 150 to 175 n mi offshore. During this time, the forward speed slowed to about 8 knots. Moving northward and re-accelerating to a forward speed of 15 knots, Bertha made landfall at 2000 UTC on the 12th on the coast of North Carolina, with the center crossing the coast midway between Wrightsville and Topsail Beaches. The hurricane had been gradually weakening since its top speed of 100 knots on the 9th to 70 knots on the 11th. Then, in 12 hours just before landfall, the winds increased to 90 knots, which is the estimated maximum 1-min. wind speed at landfall. Bertha quickly dropped below hurricane strength when it moved inland over eastern North Carolina.

It then moved northeastward along the U.S. east coast, producing 40 to 50 knot sustained winds over land from northern North Carolina to New England and 60 knot winds over nearby Atlantic waters. Bertha was declared extratropical on the 14th when the center moved from the Maine coast to New Brunswick, Canada. The extratropical storm brought 40 to 50 knot winds to the Canadian Maritime Provinces and was tracked to just south of Greenland on the 17th.