hurricanesmapped

NORTH ATLANTIC · SEASON MAP

1961 Atlantic hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 12 storms · 17 Jul 1961–20 Nov 1961

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY188.9
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1961 Atlantic hurricane season: every recorded storm trackRecorded tracks of all 12 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 BengalAnna: 17 Jul–25 Jul, peak 90 kt, Category 2Betsy: 2 Sep–10 Sep, peak 115 kt, Category 4Carla: 3 Sep–13 Sep, peak 125 kt, Category 4Debbie: 5 Sep–14 Sep, peak 80 kt, Category 1Esther: 10 Sep–26 Sep, peak 140 kt, Category 5Unnamed: 12 Sep–15 Sep, peak 57 kt, Tropical stormFrances: 30 Sep–8 Oct, peak 115 kt, Category 4Gerda: 17 Oct–20 Oct, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormHattie: 26 Oct–1 Nov, peak 145 kt, Category 5Jenny: 2 Nov–10 Nov, peak 70 kt, Category 1Inga: 4 Nov–8 Nov, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 17 Nov–20 Nov, peak 50 kt, Tropical storm

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Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Anna–90Cat 29762,660
Betsy–115Cat 49455,220
Carla–125Cat 49274,610
Debbie–80Cat 19755,990
Esther–140Cat 59194,850
Unnamed–57Tropical storm9961,200
Frances–115Cat 49482,730
Gerda–60Tropical storm9882,270
Hattie–145Cat 59141,140
Jenny–70Cat 19743,000
Inga–60Tropical storm997520
Unnamed–50Tropical storm10041,370

12 storms with an IBTrACS 1961 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 17 Jul 1961, last 20 Nov 1961.

Tropical storms12

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

Hurricanes8

64 kt or more, one-minute sustained

Major (Category 3+)5

96 kt or more, Saffir–Simpson scale

Category 52

137 kt or more at any tropical-stage observation

Strongest stormHattie

145 kt · 167 mph / 269 km/h

Lowest pressure914 hPa

Hattie, 31 Oct 1961

Longest track record16.8 days

Esther, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind0

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 1961 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season?

The archive records 8 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 64 kt or more) among 12 tropical storms, with 5 major hurricanes reaching 96 kt. Counts use US-agency winds during the tropical stage.

What was the strongest storm of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season?

Hattie, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 145 kt (Category 5) on 31 Oct 1961, 00:00 UTC and a minimum central pressure of 914 hPa.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 1961?

2 storms in the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale: Esther, Hattie.

When did the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 17 Jul 1961 and the last on 20 Nov 1961, from 12 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season?

Anna, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 20 Jul 1961, 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 1961 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