Description Hurricane Opal was a Category 4 hurricane with the lowest barometric pressure in a hurricane which did not reach Category 5 strength within the north Atlantic basin. Opal formed in the Gulf of Mexico in September 1995. Opal was the ninth hurricane and the strongest of the abnormally active 1995 Atlantic hurricane season. It crossed the Yucatán Peninsula while still a tropical depression on September 27, then strengthened and moved northward in the Gulf, becoming the most powerful Category 4 Atlantic hurricane before making a second landfall October 4 in the Florida Panhandle near Pensacola as a 115-mph (185-km/h) hurricane. Opal devastated the Pensacola/Panhandle area with a 15-ft (5-m) storm surge and traveled up the entire state of Alabama, becoming a tropical storm in Tennessee. Opal also caused heavy damage in the mid-Atlantic states before dissipating.
Throughout the storm's path from Central America into the Ohio Valley, 63 people died in storm-related events. Losses attributed to Opal exceeded $5.1 billion, much of which took place in the United States. The name "Opal" was retired in 1996, replaced by "Olga" for the 2001 season.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
September / 1995
To Month/Year
November / 1995
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Hurricane Fran North Carolina Sep - Oct 1996
