 The Great Coastal hurricane of 1806 was first noted far east of the Lesser Antilles on 17 August . Weather historian David M. <unk> followed the disturbance 's track to the Bahamas by 19 August ; intense winds persisted until 21 August , however , approximately 150 mi ( 240 km ) east of the <unk> island of <unk> . <unk> currents brought the storm northward , and it approached Charleston , South Carolina on 22 August , where a generally easterly flow preceded the storm indicated its passage far east of the city . The hurricane made landfall at the mouth of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina later that day , though the earliest impacts from the storm started several days earlier , with gusts initially toward the northeast but later curving southwestward . Reports of similar wind shifts throughout the region suggested that the gale persisted , stationary , for several hours . It eventually moved back out to sea while south of Norfolk , Virginia , departing the region on 24 August . The hurricane maintained 1 @-@ minute maximum sustained winds of 110 mph ( 175 km / h ) while offshore , equivalent to a Category 2 system on the Saffir – Simpson hurricane wind scale . While offshore New England , the gale featured a <unk> of winds 90 mi ( 150 km ) wide , and was last observed just south of Nova Scotia on 25 August slightly weaker , with sustained winds of 75 mph ( 120 km / h ) . 
