hurricanesmapped

NORTH ATLANTIC · SEASON MAP

1976 Atlantic hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 21 storms · 21 May 1976–28 Oct 1976

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY84.2
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1976 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 BengalUnnamed: 21 May–25 May, no US-agency windUnnamed: 7 Jun–9 Jun, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 11 Jun–12 Jun, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 20 Jul–22 Jul, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 23 Jul–24 Jul, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionAnna: 30 Jul–1 Aug, peak 40 kt, Tropical stormBelle: 6 Aug–10 Aug, peak 105 kt, Category 3Dottie: 18 Aug–21 Aug, peak 45 kt, Tropical stormCandice: 18 Aug–24 Aug, peak 80 kt, Category 1Emmy: 20 Aug–4 Sep, peak 90 kt, Category 2Frances: 27 Aug–4 Sep, peak 100 kt, Category 3Unnamed: 4 Sep–6 Sep, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 5 Sep–7 Sep, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 13 Sep–17 Sep, no US-agency windUnnamed: 20 Sep–27 Sep, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 22 Sep–24 Sep, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 26 Sep–28 Sep, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionGloria: 26 Sep–4 Oct, peak 90 kt, Category 2Unnamed: 3 Oct–12 Oct, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 12 Oct–15 Oct, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionHolly: 22 Oct–28 Oct, peak 65 kt, Category 1

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Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 1976 Atlantic hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Unnamed–—Unclassified—1,600
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—900
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—800
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—220
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—480
Anna–40Tropical storm—2,720
Belle–105Cat 39571,170
Dottie–45Tropical storm996720
Candice–80Cat 19641,720
Emmy–90Cat 29744,280
Frances–100Cat 39633,600
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—320
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—250
Unnamed–—Unclassified—580
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—1,570
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—360
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—540
Gloria–90Cat 29701,950
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—2,270
Unnamed–30Tropical depression—490
Holly–65Cat 19902,350

21 storms with an IBTrACS 1976 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 21 May 1976, last 28 Oct 1976.

Tropical storms10

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

Hurricanes6

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 stormBelle

105 kt · 121 mph / 194 km/h

Lowest pressure957 hPa

Belle, 9 Aug 1976

Longest track record15.3 days

Emmy, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind2

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 1976 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 1976 Atlantic hurricane season?

The archive records 6 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 64 kt or more) among 10 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 1976 Atlantic hurricane season?

Belle, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 105 kt (Category 3) on 9 Aug 1976, 00:00 UTC and a minimum central pressure of 957 hPa.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 1976?

None. No storm in the 1976 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale in the archive.

When did the 1976 Atlantic hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 21 May 1976 and the last on 28 Oct 1976, from 21 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 1976 Atlantic hurricane season?

Belle, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 7 Aug 1976, 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 1976 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