hurricanesmapped

NORTH ATLANTIC · SEASON MAP

1959 Atlantic hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 14 storms · 28 May 1959–22 Oct 1959

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY77.1
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1959 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 BengalArlene: 28 May–2 Jun, peak 55 kt, Tropical stormBeulah: 15 Jun–19 Jun, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 18 Jun–19 Jun, peak 75 kt, Category 1Cindy: 4 Jul–11 Jul, peak 65 kt, Category 1Debra: 22 Jul–27 Jul, peak 75 kt, Category 1Unnamed: 2 Aug–3 Aug, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormEdith: 18 Aug–19 Aug, peak 50 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 28 Aug–3 Sep, peak 55 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 9 Sep–11 Sep, peak 40 kt, Tropical stormFlora: 9 Sep–12 Sep, peak 65 kt, Category 1Gracie: 20 Sep–30 Sep, peak 115 kt, Category 4Hannah: 27 Sep–7 Oct, peak 105 kt, Category 3Irene: 6 Oct–9 Oct, peak 40 kt, Tropical stormJudith: 14 Oct–22 Oct, peak 75 kt, Category 1

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Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 1959 Atlantic hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Arlene–55Tropical storm9931,240
Beulah–60Tropical storm985280
Unnamed–75Cat 19742,670
Cindy–65Cat 19952,070
Debra–75Cat 1980770
Unnamed–60Tropical storm—1,270
Edith–50Tropical storm1007460
Unnamed–55Tropical storm—2,320
Unnamed–40Tropical storm10021,730
Flora–65Cat 19941,870
Gracie–115Cat 49512,750
Hannah–105Cat 39594,760
Irene–40Tropical storm1000850
Judith–75Cat 19882,900

14 storms with an IBTrACS 1959 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 28 May 1959, last 22 Oct 1959.

Tropical storms14

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

Hurricanes7

64 kt or more, one-minute sustained

Major (Category 3+)2

96 kt or more, Saffir–Simpson scale

Category 50

137 kt or more at any tropical-stage observation

Strongest stormGracie

115 kt · 132 mph / 213 km/h

Lowest pressure951 hPa

Gracie, 29 Sept 1959

Longest track record12 days

Gracie, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind0

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 1959 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 1959 Atlantic hurricane season?

The archive records 7 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 64 kt or more) among 14 tropical storms, with 2 major hurricanes reaching 96 kt. Counts use US-agency winds during the tropical stage.

What was the strongest storm of the 1959 Atlantic hurricane season?

Gracie, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 115 kt (Category 4) on 29 Sept 1959, 06:00 UTC and a minimum central pressure of 951 hPa.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 1959?

None. No storm in the 1959 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale in the archive.

When did the 1959 Atlantic hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 28 May 1959 and the last on 22 Oct 1959, from 14 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 1959 Atlantic hurricane season?

Unnamed, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 19 Jun 1959, 06:00 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 1959 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