Hurricane Ophelia was a stubborn storm that kept residents of the southeast on edge for several days during the month of September.

This erratic storm formed from a pocket of unsettled weather due to an old frontal boundary sitting in the Bahamas. On September 6th, a tropical depression formed near Grand Bahama Island.

By the 7th we were dealing with Tropical Storm Ophelia, drifting just off the Florida shore. It briefly became a hurricane on the 8th, a trend that would hold through the 11th. Ophelia went back-and-forth between a hurricane and tropical storm, while keeping the weather stormy from Florida into the Carolinas. The storm kept waters churned and cut away at the U.S. Coastline.

Finally on the 13th, the storm made a northeastward move that would hold over the days to come. Ophelia once again reached hurricane status while grazing the coastline of North Carolina.

For nearly two days, the storm sat off the coast of the Tarheel State, lashing the Piedmont with heavy rains, gusty winds, and high surf. Finally by the afternoon of the 16th, Ophelia got caught up in the stronger wind flow aloft and accelerated out to sea.

Several wind gusts over 75 MPH were reported along the Outer Banks, including an 83 MPH gust at Cape Hatteras, and 93 MPH gust on Cedar Island.

The National Weather Service office in Newport picked up nearly 10" of rain while Ophelia visited the coastline. The storm dropped a widespread 3 to 7" of rain.