hurricanesmapped

NORTH ATLANTIC · SEASON MAP

1973 Atlantic hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 17 storms · 18 Apr 1973–18 Nov 1973

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY47.9
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1973 Atlantic hurricane season: every recorded storm trackRecorded tracks of all 17 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 BengalUnnamed: 18 Apr–21 Apr, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 2 May–5 May, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 24 Jun–26 Jun, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionAlice: 1 Jul–7 Jul, peak 80 kt, Category 1Unnamed: 19 Jul–21 Jul, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionAlfa: 30 Jul–2 Aug, no US-agency windUnnamed: 9 Aug–11 Aug, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionBrenda: 18 Aug–22 Aug, peak 80 kt, Category 1Christine: 25 Aug–4 Sep, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormDelia: 1 Sep–7 Sep, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 6 Sep–12 Sep, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionEllen: 14 Sep–22 Sep, peak 100 kt, Category 3Unnamed: 24 Sep–26 Sep, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionFran: 10 Oct–12 Oct, peak 70 kt, Category 1Unnamed: 10 Oct–12 Oct, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionGilda: 16 Oct–24 Oct, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 17 Nov–18 Nov, peak 30 kt, Tropical depression

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Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 1973 Atlantic hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—650
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—890
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—210
Alice–80Cat 19861,670
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—680
Alfa–—Unclassified—750
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—1,130
Brenda–80Cat 1977670
Christine–60Tropical storm9963,180
Delia–60Tropical storm9861,320
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—1,110
Ellen–100Cat 39624,210
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—350
Fran–70Cat 19783,030
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—1,010
Gilda–60Tropical storm9943,490
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—270

17 storms with an IBTrACS 1973 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 18 Apr 1973, last 18 Nov 1973.

Tropical storms8

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

Hurricanes4

64 kt or more, one-minute sustained

Major (Category 3+)1

96 kt or more, Saffir–Simpson scale

Category 50

137 kt or more at any tropical-stage observation

Strongest stormEllen

100 kt · 115 mph / 185 km/h

Lowest pressure962 hPa

Ellen, 21 Sept 1973

Longest track record13.8 days

Gilda, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind1

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 1973 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 1973 Atlantic hurricane season?

The archive records 4 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 64 kt or more) among 8 tropical storms, with 1 major hurricane reaching 96 kt. Counts use US-agency winds during the tropical stage.

What was the strongest storm of the 1973 Atlantic hurricane season?

Ellen, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 100 kt (Category 3) on 22 Sept 1973, 12:00 UTC and a minimum central pressure of 962 hPa.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 1973?

None. No storm in the 1973 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale in the archive.

When did the 1973 Atlantic hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 18 Apr 1973 and the last on 18 Nov 1973, from 17 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 1973 Atlantic hurricane season?

Alice, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 3 Jul 1973, 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 1973 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