Hurricane Dora

About Hurricane Dora

Hurricane Dora was the fourth named storm, second hurricane and one of six major hurricanes of the 1964 Atlantic hurricane season. Dora was the first and, to date, the only hurricane to make landfall on the First Coast region of Florida; more specifically, the metropolitan area of Jacksonville. Before it came ashore at St. Johns County just after midnight on September 10, 1964, no hurricane had struck northeast Florida from the east since record-keeping began in 1851.

Dora left two billion dollars (2005 USD) in damage, most of it in Florida and only three fatalities (1 direct, 2 indirect) due to advanced warnings. Dora was one of three hurricanes to affect Florida during the 1964 season.

On August 28, a large low pressure system emerged off the African coast and passed near Cape Verde. The low tracked west, and on August 31 an organize cloud pattern was spotted near 11°N., 41°W. The following day, it organized into a tropical depression. The depression was enveloped in a larger are of low pressure in which the pressure isobar of 1008 mb was 300 nautical miles wide at the time of formation, while minimum pressure was at 998 mb. The storm intensified under an area of light wind shear and was upgraded to Tropical Storm Dora on September 1, and was upgraded to a hurricane on September 2.