SAME NAME, DIFFERENT STORM

There's just something about the name "Bertha" when it comes to storms. North Carolina residents are intimately familiar with Hurricane Bertha, which pounded our coast with Category 2 winds in July of 1996. Indeed, there have been no less than 6 tropical systems to share the name Bertha.

Our most recent "Bertha" formed in July 2008 from a tropical wave that rolled off the African coast in late June. The system developed further east than any other storm in recorded history. As the system drifted westward, it became notorious for rapid fluctuations in strength. Between 4 AM and 4 PM on July 7, the storm's winds increased from tropical storm strength (70 mph) to Category 3 strength (115 mph).

Speaking of rapid organization, 2002's Tropical Storm Bertha caught nearly everyone by surprise when it developed less than 150 miles from the Louisiana Coast. Thankfully, the storm never reached hurricane status. After dumping heavy rains over Louisiana, the storm moved back into the Gulf of Mexico and slammed into Texas (one of only three storms ever to take such a path).

In 1990, Category 1 Hurricane Bertha moved nearly parallel to the East Coast for several hundred miles, causing mainly minor beach erosion. However, the storm caused far greater problems as it weakened into an extra-tropical system offshore of Cape Cod. A Greek freighter, "Corazon", sank in high seas.

Of course, there were quiet "Berthas" as well. For example, 1984's Bertha died as a weak tropical storm in the open Atlantic. Still, mention the name Bertha to anyone in southeastern North Carolina, and you're liable to turn a few heads...