Hurricane Charlie (1951)
Hurricane Charlie reached Category 4 in the North Atlantic between August 12, 1951 and August 23, 1951, with a lowest pressure of 968 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Charlie, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1951 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- August 12, 1951 to August 23, 1951
- Peak strength
- Category 4, 115 kt (132 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 968 mb (28.59 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 20.7
- Fastest the center moved
- 20 kt (23 mph)
- Identifier
- AL041951
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.
Landfalls
| Time (UTC) | Where | Position | Wind | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 03:00 | Portmore, Saint Catherine Parish, Jamaica, 8 km away | 17.9N 76.9W | 110 kt (127 mph) | |
| Aug 20, 02:00 | Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 23 km away | 20.3N 87.0W | 115 kt (132 mph) | |
| Aug 20, 03:00 | Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 27 km away | 20.4N 87.3W | 115 kt (132 mph) | |
| Aug 22, 19:00 | Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, Mexico, 7 km away | 22.3N 97.8W | 100 kt (115 mph) | 968 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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 12, 00:00 | 12.1N 44.1W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 12, 06:00 | 12.1N 45.3W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 12, 12:00 | 12.2N 46.2W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 12, 18:00 | 12.4N 46.9W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 13, 00:00 | 12.6N 47.6W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 13, 06:00 | 12.7N 48.4W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 13, 12:00 | 12.8N 49.2W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 13, 18:00 | 12.9N 50.0W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 14, 00:00 | 13.0N 50.8W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 14, 06:00 | 13.2N 51.6W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 14, 12:00 | 13.4N 52.4W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 14, 18:00 | 13.6N 53.6W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 15, 00:00 | 13.8N 55.3W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 15, 06:00 | 14.1N 57.1W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 15, 12:00 | 14.4N 58.9W | 55 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 15, 18:00 | 14.8N 60.7W | 60 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 16, 00:00 | 15.2N 62.6W | 60 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 16, 06:00 | 15.6N 64.6W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 16, 12:00 | 15.9N 66.7W | 65 kt | 992 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 16, 18:00 | 16.2N 68.6W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 17, 00:00 | 16.3N 70.2W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 17, 06:00 | 16.4N 71.7W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 17, 12:00 | 16.6N 73.1W | 85 kt | 978 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 17, 18:00 | 17.1N 74.6W | 95 kt | 971 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 18, 00:00 | 17.6N 76.2W | 110 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 18, 03:00 landfall | 17.9N 76.9W | 110 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 18, 06:00 | 18.1N 77.8W | 85 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 18, 12:00 | 18.3N 79.4W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 18, 18:00 | 18.6N 80.9W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 19, 00:00 | 18.9N 82.2W | 80 kt | 982 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 19, 06:00 | 19.2N 83.4W | 85 kt | 979 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 19, 12:00 | 19.4N 84.5W | 85 kt | 976 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 19, 18:00 | 19.8N 85.6W | 100 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 20, 00:00 | 20.2N 86.7W | 115 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 20, 02:00 landfall | 20.3N 87.0W | 115 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 20, 03:00 landfall | 20.4N 87.3W | 115 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 20, 06:00 | 20.6N 87.9W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 20, 12:00 | 21.0N 89.2W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 20, 18:00 | 21.4N 90.4W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 21, 00:00 | 21.6N 91.6W | 65 kt | 989 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 21, 06:00 | 21.6N 92.7W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 21, 12:00 | 21.6N 93.7W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 21, 18:00 | 21.6N 94.3W | 65 kt | 988 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 22, 00:00 | 21.7N 94.9W | 70 kt | 982 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 22, 06:00 | 21.9N 95.7W | 80 kt | 977 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 22, 12:00 | 22.1N 96.6W | 85 kt | 972 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 22, 18:00 | 22.2N 97.5W | 100 kt | 968 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 22, 19:00 landfall | 22.3N 97.8W | 100 kt | 968 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 23, 00:00 | 22.3N 98.2W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 23, 06:00 | 22.4N 98.8W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 23, 12:00 | 22.4N 99.4W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 23, 18:00 | 22.4N 99.9W | 25 kt | Tropical depression |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1951
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1951
- Hurricane AbleNorth Atlantic · 1951
- Tropical Storm BakerNorth Atlantic · 1951
- Hurricane DogNorth Atlantic · 1951
- Hurricane EasyNorth Atlantic · 1951
- Hurricane FoxNorth Atlantic · 1951
- Tropical Storm GeorgeNorth Atlantic · 1951
- Hurricane HowNorth Atlantic · 1951
- Tropical Storm ItemNorth Atlantic · 1951
- Hurricane JigNorth Atlantic · 1951
- Unnamed hurricaneNorth Atlantic · 1951
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.