Kyle (2002)

Hurricane Kyle formed from a non-tropical low in the central North Atlantic. A stationary front southeast of Bermuda evolved into a low by 19 September, and the system became Subtropical Depression Twelve on 20 September about 715 nautical miles east-southeast of Bermuda. It became Subtropical Storm Kyle on 21 September, transitioned to a tropical storm on 22 September, and drifted erratically southwestward and westward for much of its life. Kyle strengthened to hurricane status on 25 September, looped and weakened several times, and finally moved northwestward to the U.S. East Coast before dissipating after merging with a cold front on 12 October. The cyclone lasted 22 days, making it the third longest-lived Atlantic tropical cyclone on record.

Kyle made two U.S. landfalls on 11 October. The first was near McClellanville, South Carolina around 1700 UTC on 11 October as a tropical storm with estimated sustained winds of 35 kt (about 40 mph). A few hours later the center moved inland again, with a second landfall near Long Beach, North Carolina around 2200 UTC on 11 October, also with estimated sustained winds near 35 kt (about 40 mph).

The storm’s maximum intensity occurred on 26–27 September, when Kyle reached peak sustained winds of 75 kt (about 85 mph) and a minimum central pressure near 980 mb. At peak it was a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale.

Storm surge and rainfall were generally modest along the Southeast U.S. coast. Typical storm surge values were around 1 ft from Florida to North Carolina, with isolated near-2-ft surges recorded at Fort Pulaski, Georgia and Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Selected tide and surge observations include about 4.91 ft storm tide at Charleston (station KCHS) and 6.35 ft at Edisto Beach (storm-tide related station). Rainfall totals were mostly under 2 inches in most areas, with isolated amounts of 5–6 inches reported; specific heavier totals included 5.60 inches at Greenville (station PGVN7) and 5.85 inches at Witherbee (RAW S).

Kyle caused no reported deaths. Damage was limited because sustained winds at landfall were weak and tropical-storm-force winds remained largely over offshore waters. Total damage was estimated near $5.0 million with about $2.5 million insured losses. The most notable impacts came from tornadoes spawned by Kyle: at least four tornadoes affected eastern South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina. An F2 tornado in Georgetown, South Carolina severely damaged mobile homes and vehicles and injured eight people; Beaufort County, North Carolina experienced an F1–F2 tornado that caused $1.5–2.0 million in agricultural and structural damage.

Noteworthy aspects include Kyle’s longevity—22 days, the third longest-lived Atlantic tropical cyclone—and its multiple transitions between tropical, subtropical, and degenerative stages. Forecast track and intensity errors for Kyle were smaller than the 1992–2001 averages; the official forecasts performed better than many models, though some models and ensembles outperformed the official track at longer ranges.