hurricanesmapped

NORTH ATLANTIC · SEASON MAP

1953 Atlantic hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 14 storms · 25 May 1953–9 Dec 1953

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY98.5
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1953 Atlantic hurricane season: every recorded storm trackRecorded tracks of all 14 storms, colored by the wind category at each observation. Hover or focus a storm in the table to highlight its track.UNITED STATESCANADAMEXICOCUBABRAZILAFRICAEUROPECHINAJAPANINDIAGulf of MexicoAtlantic OceanPacific OceanArabian SeaBay of BengalAlice: 25 May–7 Jun, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 11 Jul–15 Jul, peak 45 kt, Tropical stormBarbara: 11 Aug–15 Aug, peak 80 kt, Category 1Carol: 28 Aug–8 Sep, peak 140 kt, Category 5Unnamed: 29 Aug–1 Sep, peak 35 kt, Tropical stormDolly: 8 Sep–12 Sep, peak 65 kt, Category 1Edna: 15 Sep–18 Sep, peak 100 kt, Category 3Unnamed: 15 Sep–21 Sep, peak 45 kt, Tropical stormFlorence: 23 Sep–27 Sep, peak 100 kt, Category 3Gail: 2 Oct–12 Oct, peak 70 kt, Category 1Unnamed: 3 Oct–6 Oct, peak 43 kt, Tropical stormHazel: 7 Oct–10 Oct, peak 75 kt, Category 1Unnamed: 23 Nov–26 Nov, peak 45 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 7 Dec–9 Dec, peak 55 kt, Tropical storm

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Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 1953 Atlantic hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Alice–60Tropical storm9941,830
Unnamed–45Tropical storm—1,180
Barbara–80Cat 19732,230
Carol–140Cat 59295,220
Unnamed–35Tropical storm1007620
Dolly–65Cat 19893,190
Edna–100Cat 39624,000
Unnamed–45Tropical storm1004880
Florence–100Cat 39681,440
Gail–70Cat 19862,630
Unnamed–43Tropical storm—2,490
Hazel–75Cat 110023,740
Unnamed–45Tropical storm999760
Unnamed–55Tropical storm—590

14 storms with an IBTrACS 1953 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 25 May 1953, last 9 Dec 1953.

Tropical storms14

Tropical-stage US-agency wind of 34 kt or more

Hurricanes7

64 kt or more, one-minute sustained

Major (Category 3+)3

96 kt or more, Saffir–Simpson scale

Category 51

137 kt or more at any tropical-stage observation

Strongest stormCarol

140 kt · 161 mph / 259 km/h

Lowest pressure929 hPa

Carol, 3 Sept 1953

Longest track record12.5 days

Alice, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind0

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 1953 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 1953 Atlantic hurricane season?

The archive records 7 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 64 kt or more) among 14 tropical storms, with 3 major hurricanes reaching 96 kt. Counts use US-agency winds during the tropical stage.

What was the strongest storm of the 1953 Atlantic hurricane season?

Carol, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 140 kt (Category 5) on 3 Sept 1953, 12:00 UTC and a minimum central pressure of 929 hPa.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 1953?

1 storm in the 1953 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale: Carol.

When did the 1953 Atlantic hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 25 May 1953 and the last on 9 Dec 1953, from 14 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 1953 Atlantic hurricane season?

Barbara, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 12 Aug 1953, 18:00 UTC.

METHODOLOGY

Data sources and limitations

The map and totals are generated from NOAA’s IBTrACS v04r01 archive. A storm belongs to this page when the archive lists it in the North Atlantic basin for the 1953 season, so a December storm whose track ends in January stays with its season. Storms that cross between basins appear on the page of their archive basin only.

Counts use US-agency one-minute winds during the tropical stage: 34 kt for a tropical storm, 64 kt for hurricane strength and 96 kt for major intensity, on the Saffir–Simpson scale in every basin. Local agencies classify storms differently, and official season summaries can differ from the archive. Accumulated cyclone energy sums squared winds at six-hourly synoptic times, counting observations in the calendar year. Storms with no US-agency wind are mapped but cannot enter the counts.

The map frame is the same for every North Atlantic season, so a track that leaves it is cut at the edge. Lines show each storm’s center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Coastlines use Natural Earth’s 1:10m land data.

Archive retrieved

NOAA IBTrACS archive · Field documentation

Sources & methodology