The 1933 season

Unnamed hurricane (1933)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 5 in the North Atlantic between August 22, 1933 and September 5, 1933, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1933 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
August 22, 1933 to September 5, 1933
Peak strength
Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
40.2
Fastest the center moved
17 kt (20 mph)
Identifier
AL081933

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Landfall

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Sep 5, 04:00Port Isabel, TX, 3 km away26.1N 97.2W110 kt (127 mph)940 mb

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 22, 06:0012.6N 24.9W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 22, 12:0012.7N 26.0W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 22, 18:0012.8N 27.1W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 23, 00:0012.9N 28.2W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 23, 06:0013.0N 29.3W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 23, 12:0013.1N 30.4W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 23, 18:0013.2N 31.5W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 24, 00:0013.4N 32.5W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 24, 06:0013.6N 33.5W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 24, 12:0013.8N 34.6W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 24, 18:0014.0N 35.8W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 25, 00:0014.3N 37.1W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 25, 06:0014.5N 38.4W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 25, 12:0014.7N 39.7W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 25, 18:0014.9N 41.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 26, 00:0015.1N 42.3W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 06:0015.3N 43.6W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 12:0015.6N 44.9W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 18:0015.8N 46.2W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 27, 00:0016.1N 47.5W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 27, 06:0016.4N 48.8W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 27, 12:0016.7N 50.1W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 27, 18:0017.0N 51.6W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 28, 00:0017.3N 53.1W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 28, 06:0017.7N 54.7W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 28, 12:0018.1N 56.3W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 28, 18:0018.5N 57.9W65 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 00:0018.8N 59.5W70 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 06:0019.1N 61.1W75 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 12:0019.5N 62.7W80 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 18:0020.0N 64.4W90 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 00:0020.6N 66.1W100 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 06:0021.2N 67.8W110 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 12:0021.7N 69.5W120 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 18:0021.9N 70.9W130 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 00:0022.2N 72.1W140 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 06:0022.4N 73.2W140 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 12:0022.5N 74.3W135 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 18:0022.6N 75.7W125 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 00:0022.8N 77.3W115 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 06:0023.0N 78.9W110 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 12:0023.1N 80.4W105 kt954 mbHurricane
Sep 1, 18:0023.3N 81.9W100 ktHurricane
Sep 2, 00:0023.5N 83.1W100 ktHurricane
Sep 2, 06:0023.7N 84.1W100 ktHurricane
Sep 2, 12:0024.2N 85.1W110 ktHurricane
Sep 2, 18:0024.6N 86.1W120 ktHurricane
Sep 3, 00:0024.9N 87.2W120 ktHurricane
Sep 3, 06:0025.1N 88.6W120 ktHurricane
Sep 3, 12:0025.3N 89.9W120 ktHurricane
Sep 3, 18:0025.6N 91.2W115 ktHurricane
Sep 4, 00:0025.9N 92.4W115 ktHurricane
Sep 4, 06:0026.0N 93.7W115 ktHurricane
Sep 4, 12:0026.1N 94.9W110 ktHurricane
Sep 4, 18:0026.2N 95.8W110 ktHurricane
Sep 5, 00:0026.2N 96.6W110 ktHurricane
Sep 5, 04:00 landfall26.1N 97.2W110 kt940 mbHurricane
Sep 5, 06:0026.1N 97.5W90 ktHurricane
Sep 5, 12:0025.9N 98.4W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 18:0025.7N 99.3W35 ktTropical storm

Other North Atlantic storms of 1933

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.