hurricanesmapped

NORTH ATLANTIC · SEASON MAP

1955 Atlantic hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 13 storms · 31 Jul 1955–19 Oct 1955

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY158.2
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1955 Atlantic hurricane season: every recorded storm trackRecorded tracks of all 13 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 BengalBrenda: 31 Jul–3 Aug, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormConnie: 3 Aug–15 Aug, peak 120 kt, Category 4Diane: 7 Aug–20 Aug, peak 90 kt, Category 2Edith: 21 Aug–31 Aug, peak 85 kt, Category 2Unnamed: 25 Aug–28 Aug, peak 45 kt, Tropical stormFlora: 2 Sep–9 Sep, peak 90 kt, Category 2Gladys: 3 Sep–6 Sep, peak 65 kt, Category 1Ione: 10 Sep–21 Sep, peak 120 kt, Category 4Hilda: 12 Sep–20 Sep, peak 105 kt, Category 3Janet: 21 Sep–30 Sep, peak 150 kt, Category 5Unnamed: 23 Sep–27 Sep, peak 40 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 10 Oct–14 Oct, peak 55 kt, Tropical stormKatie: 14 Oct–19 Oct, peak 95 kt, Category 2

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Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Brenda–60Tropical storm—530
Connie–120Cat 49443,410
Diane–90Cat 29695,880
Edith–85Cat 29673,640
Unnamed–45Tropical storm1004760
Flora–90Cat 29673,110
Gladys–65Cat 1996490
Ione–120Cat 49386,410
Hilda–105Cat 39521,940
Janet–150Cat 59142,840
Unnamed–40Tropical storm—2,640
Unnamed–55Tropical storm—950
Katie–95Cat 29841,530

13 storms with an IBTrACS 1955 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 31 Jul 1955, last 19 Oct 1955.

Tropical storms13

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

Hurricanes9

64 kt or more, one-minute sustained

Major (Category 3+)4

96 kt or more, Saffir–Simpson scale

Category 51

137 kt or more at any tropical-stage observation

Strongest stormJanet

150 kt · 173 mph / 278 km/h

Lowest pressure914 hPa

Janet, 28 Sept 1955

Longest track record16.8 days

Ione, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind0

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 1955 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season?

The archive records 9 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 64 kt or more) among 13 tropical storms, with 4 major hurricanes reaching 96 kt. Counts use US-agency winds during the tropical stage.

What was the strongest storm of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season?

Janet, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 150 kt (Category 5) on 28 Sept 1955, 00:00 UTC and a minimum central pressure of 914 hPa.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 1955?

1 storm in the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale: Janet.

When did the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 31 Jul 1955 and the last on 19 Oct 1955, from 13 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season?

Connie, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 4 Aug 1955, 09:00 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 1955 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