These are the top weather events that shaped the Lowcountry since 1954

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – We have come a long way in weather forecasting and technology since 1954. When we signed on the air, we had no weather satellite in space.

What this means is that two significant hurricanes in our history, Hazel in 1954 and Gracie in 1959, were forecast without the help from above that we rely on so much today.

Hazel was certainly worse for North Carolina. But for us, it was the first hurricane we had to deal with after hitting the airwaves. Hazel made landfall in North Carolina on October 15, 1954, some three weeks after WUSN flipped on the switch.

Gracie, five years later, in September of 1959, was more destructive.

A Weather Bureau report described damage in Charleston as widespread and extensive. Gracie made landfall near St. Helena Sound with winds near 130 miles an hour.

Let’s break away from hurricanes and talk about something we don’t see very often, and that is snow. There are two main snow events in our storied weather history. The first was known as the Great South Snowstorm of February 1973.

The total for us between February 9th and 11th was 7.1 inches, the second-highest storm total in our history. So, what was number one? Well, we always refer to this event as the Hugo snow. Even though it happened months after Hugo, and the hurricane had nothing to do with creating the snow, it was just ironic that it happened the same year.

A total of eight inches fell between December 22nd and 24th, with six inches falling on the 23rd. It was our first and only white Christmas on record.

Not snow, but rainfall got our attention in October of 2015. Here in the Lowcountry, almost 19 inches of rain fell in those first five days. On October 3rd, we saw 11.5 inches of rain making that day our wettest in history.

For us, Hurricane Floyd was the storm that changed policy and opinion. Known as the Floyd fiasco, the lane reversal – or lack of reversal – made for extremely long trips to evacuate.

And that brings us to the biggest weather event to impact us since we signed on the air 70 years ago. Hurricane Hugo, 35 years ago became a timeline and benchmark storm for what can happen and most likely will happen again in the future.

We certainly can’t stop these storms, but what we have done over these many years of broadcasting is learn from past events, helping us better prepare for whatever the next 70 years throw our way when it comes to weather.

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