The 1939 season

Unnamed hurricane (1939)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between August 7, 1939 and August 19, 1939, with a lowest pressure of 985 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1939 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 7, 1939 to August 19, 1939
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
985 mb (29.09 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
5.8
Identifier
AL021939

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.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 7, 18:0019.3N 63.9W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 8, 00:0019.5N 64.6W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 8, 06:0019.9N 65.3W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 8, 12:0020.2N 66.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 8, 18:0020.7N 66.9W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 9, 00:0021.5N 68.0W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 9, 06:0022.2N 69.2W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 9, 12:0022.8N 70.3W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 9, 18:0023.3N 71.3W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 10, 00:0023.7N 72.3W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 10, 06:0024.0N 73.3W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 10, 12:0024.3N 74.3W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 10, 18:0024.7N 75.3W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 11, 00:0025.2N 76.3W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 11, 06:0025.7N 77.3W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 11, 12:0026.2N 78.3W65 ktHurricane
Aug 11, 18:0026.7N 79.3W65 ktHurricane
Aug 11, 23:00 landfall27.2N 80.2W65 ktHurricane
Aug 12, 00:0027.3N 80.4W65 ktHurricane
Aug 12, 06:0027.9N 81.9W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 12, 12:0028.6N 83.4W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 12, 18:0029.2N 84.6W65 ktHurricane
Aug 13, 00:0029.8N 85.6W65 ktHurricane
Aug 13, 06:00 landfall30.4N 86.4W65 kt985 mbHurricane
Aug 13, 12:0031.0N 87.1W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 13, 18:0031.4N 87.5W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 14, 00:0031.6N 87.8W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 14, 06:0031.8N 88.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 14, 12:0032.0N 88.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 14, 18:0032.3N 88.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 15, 00:0032.6N 87.9W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 15, 06:0032.8N 87.8W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 15, 12:0033.0N 87.8W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 15, 18:0033.1N 87.7W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 16, 00:0033.1N 87.6W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 16, 06:0033.1N 87.4W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 16, 12:0033.1N 87.2W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 16, 18:0033.1N 87.1W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 17, 00:0033.1N 87.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 17, 06:0033.1N 87.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 17, 12:0033.3N 86.9W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 17, 18:0034.0N 86.8W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 18, 00:0035.0N 86.7W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 18, 06:0036.0N 86.5W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 18, 12:0037.0N 86.0W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 18, 18:0037.7N 85.0W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 19, 00:0038.2N 83.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 19, 06:0038.6N 80.5W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 19, 12:0039.0N 77.4W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 19, 18:0039.2N 74.0W30 ktTropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 1939

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.