The 1951 season

Hurricane How (1951)

Hurricane How reached Category 2 in the North Atlantic between September 29, 1951 and October 11, 1951, with a lowest pressure of 963 mb, and made landfall.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Hurricane How. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

Open the live radar with storms, cones and warnings

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
September 29, 1951 to October 11, 1951
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure
963 mb (28.44 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.7
Fastest the center moved
47 kt (54 mph)
Identifier
AL091951

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
Oct 2, 10:00Bokeelia, FL, 14 km away26.7N 82.3W55 kt (63 mph)

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

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 150 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 15.72 inches (399 mm).

StationTotalPosition
BONITA SPGS 2 MI ESE15.72 in (399 mm)26.33N 81.75W
NAPLES13.95 in (354 mm)0.00N 0.00E
LAKE TRAFFORD11.95 in (304 mm)26.43N 81.48W
FT MYERS PAGE FLD AP10.94 in (278 mm)26.58N 81.87W
LA BELLE10.08 in (256 mm)26.75N 81.43W
LAKE PLACID 2 SW9.85 in (250 mm)27.28N 81.38W
PUNTA GORDA9.84 in (250 mm)26.93N 82.05W
OKEECHOBEE9.83 in (250 mm)27.20N 80.83W
MYAKKA RVR SP9.51 in (242 mm)27.25N 82.32W
BIG CYPRESS INDIAN RSV9.10 in (231 mm)0.00N 0.00E
PALATKA8.89 in (226 mm)29.65N 81.67W
OKEECHOBEE 9 W8.63 in (219 mm)27.23N 80.97W

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 29, 00:0020.2N 85.8W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 29, 06:0021.1N 86.6W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 29, 12:0021.9N 87.2W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 29, 18:0022.7N 87.3W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 30, 00:0023.3N 87.3W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 30, 06:0023.9N 87.4W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 30, 12:0024.5N 87.5W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 30, 18:0025.0N 87.6W35 ktTropical storm
Oct 1, 00:0025.5N 87.7W35 ktTropical storm
Oct 1, 06:0025.8N 87.6W35 ktTropical storm
Oct 1, 12:0026.1N 86.8W40 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 18:0026.3N 86.0W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 2, 00:0026.4N 84.8W45 ktTropical storm
Oct 2, 06:0026.6N 83.3W55 ktTropical storm
Oct 2, 10:00 landfall26.7N 82.3W55 ktTropical storm
Oct 2, 12:0026.8N 81.7W45 ktTropical storm
Oct 2, 18:0027.6N 80.1W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 3, 00:0028.8N 78.7W60 ktTropical storm
Oct 3, 06:0030.1N 77.3W70 ktHurricane
Oct 3, 12:0031.4N 76.5W75 kt982 mbHurricane
Oct 3, 18:0032.1N 76.1W80 kt979 mbHurricane
Oct 4, 00:0032.8N 75.7W85 ktHurricane
Oct 4, 06:0033.6N 75.2W85 ktHurricane
Oct 4, 12:0034.3N 74.6W85 ktHurricane
Oct 4, 18:0034.9N 74.0W80 kt975 mbHurricane
Oct 5, 00:0035.4N 73.4W80 ktHurricane
Oct 5, 06:0036.1N 72.6W80 ktHurricane
Oct 5, 12:0036.9N 71.6W85 kt972 mbHurricane
Oct 5, 18:0037.7N 70.4W85 ktHurricane
Oct 6, 00:0038.4N 69.2W85 ktHurricane
Oct 6, 06:0039.1N 67.6W85 ktHurricane
Oct 6, 12:0039.7N 65.4W80 ktExtratropical
Oct 6, 18:0040.3N 61.2W75 kt963 mbExtratropical
Oct 7, 00:0041.2N 56.7W75 ktExtratropical
Oct 7, 06:0042.3N 51.0W75 ktExtratropical
Oct 7, 12:0043.5N 45.5W75 ktExtratropical
Oct 7, 18:0044.7N 39.8W75 ktExtratropical
Oct 8, 00:0046.4N 34.0W75 ktExtratropical
Oct 8, 06:0049.3N 29.3W75 ktExtratropical
Oct 8, 12:0052.3N 26.3W75 ktExtratropical
Oct 8, 18:0056.3N 23.0W75 ktExtratropical
Oct 9, 00:0059.3N 21.0W70 ktExtratropical
Oct 9, 06:0064.0N 19.5W65 ktExtratropical
Oct 9, 12:0067.0N 17.0W60 ktExtratropical
Oct 9, 18:0070.0N 13.0W60 ktExtratropical
Oct 10, 00:0073.0N 8.0W55 ktExtratropical
Oct 10, 06:0075.5N 2.0W55 ktExtratropical
Oct 10, 12:0078.0N 5.0E50 ktExtratropical
Oct 10, 18:0079.5N 14.0E50 ktExtratropical
Oct 11, 00:0080.3N 24.0E50 ktExtratropical
Oct 11, 06:0080.8N 35.0E50 ktExtratropical
Oct 11, 12:0081.0N 48.0E50 ktExtratropical
Oct 11, 18:0081.0N 63.0E50 ktExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 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.