hurricanesmapped

NORTH ATLANTIC · SEASON MAP

1970 Atlantic hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 21 storms · 17 May 1970–1 Dec 1970

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY66.6
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1970 Atlantic hurricane season: every recorded storm trackRecorded tracks of all 21 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 BengalAlma: 17 May–27 May, peak 65 kt, Category 1Becky: 19 Jul–23 Jul, peak 55 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 28 Jul–1 Aug, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionCelia: 31 Jul–5 Aug, peak 120 kt, Category 4Unnamed: 2 Aug–6 Aug, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 7 Aug–18 Aug, peak 70 kt, Category 1Unnamed: 11 Aug–18 Aug, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionDorothy: 18 Aug–22 Aug, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 1 Sep–2 Sep, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 3 Sep–13 Sep, peak 40 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 5 Sep–7 Sep, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionElla: 8 Sep–13 Sep, peak 110 kt, Category 3Felice: 12 Sep–18 Sep, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 19 Sep–23 Sep, peak 40 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 22 Sep–25 Sep, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionGreta: 26 Sep–4 Oct, peak 40 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 30 Sep–20 Oct, peak 75 kt, Category 1Unnamed: 15 Oct–17 Oct, peak 85 kt, Category 2Unnamed: 25 Oct–28 Oct, peak 85 kt, Category 2Unnamed: 13 Nov–15 Nov, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 30 Nov–1 Dec, peak 55 kt, Tropical storm

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Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 1970 Atlantic hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Alma–65Cat 19931,960
Becky–55Tropical storm10031,240
Unnamed–30Tropical depression10081,300
Celia–120Cat 49441,610
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—1,520
Unnamed–70Cat 110027,030
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—2,700
Dorothy–60Tropical storm9961,360
Unnamed–30Tropical depression1008390
Unnamed–40Tropical storm10061,890
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—660
Ella–110Cat 39621,170
Felice–60Tropical storm9901,770
Unnamed–40Tropical storm—320
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—800
Greta–40Tropical storm10031,390
Unnamed–75Cat 19896,350
Unnamed–85Cat 29741,510
Unnamed–85Cat 2—1,850
Unnamed–30Tropical depression1004280
Unnamed–55Tropical storm—4,380

21 storms with an IBTrACS 1970 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 17 May 1970, last 1 Dec 1970.

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 stormCelia

120 kt · 138 mph / 222 km/h

Lowest pressure944 hPa

Celia, 3 Aug 1970

Longest track record21.8 days

Unnamed, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind0

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 1970 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 1970 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 1970 Atlantic hurricane season?

Celia, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 120 kt (Category 4) on 3 Aug 1970, 21:00 UTC and a minimum central pressure of 944 hPa.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 1970?

None. No storm in the 1970 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale in the archive.

When did the 1970 Atlantic hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 17 May 1970 and the last on 1 Dec 1970, from 21 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 1970 Atlantic hurricane season?

Alma, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 20 May 1970, 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 1970 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