The 1940 season

Unnamed hurricane (1940)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 2 in the North Atlantic between August 3, 1940 and August 10, 1940, with a lowest pressure of 972 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1940 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
August 3, 1940 to August 10, 1940
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure
972 mb (28.70 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
8.3
Fastest the center moved
10 kt (12 mph)
Identifier
AL021940

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
Aug 7, 21:00Port Arthur, TX, 26 km away29.7N 94.1W85 kt (98 mph)972 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 3, 12:0028.5N 83.1W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 3, 18:0028.1N 83.9W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 4, 00:0027.9N 84.7W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 4, 06:0027.8N 85.3W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 4, 12:0027.8N 85.9W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 4, 18:0027.8N 86.5W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 5, 00:0027.9N 87.2W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 5, 06:0028.0N 87.7W55 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 12:0028.1N 88.2W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 5, 18:0028.2N 88.7W65 ktHurricane
Aug 6, 00:0028.3N 89.2W70 ktHurricane
Aug 6, 06:0028.4N 89.7W70 ktHurricane
Aug 6, 12:0028.6N 90.4W75 ktHurricane
Aug 6, 18:0028.8N 91.1W80 ktHurricane
Aug 7, 00:0029.0N 91.9W80 ktHurricane
Aug 7, 06:0029.2N 92.6W85 ktHurricane
Aug 7, 12:0029.4N 93.2W85 ktHurricane
Aug 7, 18:0029.6N 93.8W85 kt972 mbHurricane
Aug 7, 21:00 landfall29.7N 94.1W85 kt972 mbHurricane
Aug 8, 00:0029.8N 94.3W65 ktHurricane
Aug 8, 06:0030.1N 94.5W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 8, 12:0030.5N 94.5W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 8, 18:0030.9N 94.5W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 9, 00:0031.3N 94.5W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 9, 06:0031.8N 94.5W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 9, 12:0032.4N 94.5W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 9, 18:0032.9N 94.5W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 10, 00:0033.4N 94.3W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 10, 06:0034.0N 94.0W20 ktTropical depression
Aug 10, 12:0034.8N 93.7W20 ktTropical depression
Aug 10, 18:0035.7N 93.3W20 ktTropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 1940

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.