The 1954 season

Hurricane Edna (1954)

Hurricane Edna reached Category 3 in the North Atlantic between September 5, 1954 and September 14, 1954, with a lowest pressure of 943 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Edna, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1954 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
September 5, 1954 to September 14, 1954
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
943 mb (27.85 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
18.9
Fastest the center moved
57 kt (66 mph)
Identifier
AL081954

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)WherePositionWindPressure
Sep 11, 18:30Edgartown, MA, 2 km away41.4N 70.5W95 kt (109 mph)950 mb
Sep 11, 19:00Barnstable, MA41.7N 70.3W95 kt (109 mph)952 mb
Sep 11, 19:30Wellfleet, MA, 7 km away41.9N 70.1W90 kt (104 mph)954 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.

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,114 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 9.30 inches (236 mm).

StationTotalPosition
Upton9.30 in (236 mm)40.90N 72.90W
QUONSET POINT NAS8.72 in (221 mm)41.58N 71.42W
BEDFORD HANSCOM FIELD8.48 in (215 mm)42.47N 71.29W
SPOT POND8.05 in (204 mm)42.45N 71.08W
BRUNSWICK8.05 in (204 mm)43.90N 69.93W
PORTLAND8.01 in (203 mm)43.67N 70.25W
WESTON7.65 in (194 mm)42.38N 71.32W
BELFAST7.57 in (192 mm)44.40N 68.99W
LAKE COCHITUATE7.54 in (192 mm)42.32N 71.38W
PORTLAND JETPORT7.49 in (190 mm)43.64N 70.30W
BRIDGEHAMPTON7.46 in (189 mm)40.95N 72.30W
HAVERHILL7.06 in (179 mm)42.76N 71.06W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 5, 00:0019.8N 65.3W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 5, 06:0020.1N 66.2W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 5, 12:0020.5N 67.1W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 18:0020.9N 68.0W40 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 00:0021.2N 68.9W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 06:0021.4N 69.7W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 12:0021.5N 70.4W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 18:0021.7N 71.0W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 00:0022.0N 71.5W55 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 06:0022.4N 72.1W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 12:0022.9N 72.8W65 kt995 mbHurricane
Sep 7, 18:0023.6N 73.5W70 kt992 mbHurricane
Sep 8, 00:0024.2N 74.3W75 kt990 mbHurricane
Sep 8, 06:0024.8N 74.8W80 kt985 mbHurricane
Sep 8, 12:0025.5N 75.2W85 kt979 mbHurricane
Sep 8, 18:0026.3N 75.4W95 kt968 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 00:0026.9N 75.6W95 ktHurricane
Sep 9, 06:0027.6N 76.0W100 ktHurricane
Sep 9, 12:0028.2N 76.4W105 ktHurricane
Sep 9, 18:0028.8N 76.5W110 kt945 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 00:0029.6N 76.3W110 ktHurricane
Sep 10, 06:0030.5N 76.1W110 ktHurricane
Sep 10, 12:0031.5N 75.9W110 ktHurricane
Sep 10, 18:0032.7N 75.5W110 ktHurricane
Sep 11, 00:0034.0N 74.8W110 kt943 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 06:0036.0N 73.8W105 ktHurricane
Sep 11, 12:0038.1N 72.5W100 ktHurricane
Sep 11, 18:0041.1N 70.7W95 kt950 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 18:30 landfall41.4N 70.5W95 kt950 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 19:00 landfall41.7N 70.3W95 kt952 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 19:30 landfall41.9N 70.1W90 kt954 mbHurricane
Sep 12, 00:0043.8N 68.1W70 ktExtratropical
Sep 12, 06:0048.7N 64.0W60 ktExtratropical
Sep 12, 12:0052.4N 60.5W60 ktExtratropical
Sep 12, 18:0054.5N 58.0W60 ktExtratropical
Sep 13, 00:0056.3N 56.5W60 ktExtratropical
Sep 13, 06:0057.9N 55.5W60 ktExtratropical
Sep 13, 12:0059.0N 54.5W60 ktExtratropical
Sep 13, 18:0059.5N 53.0W60 ktExtratropical
Sep 14, 00:0059.4N 51.0W60 ktExtratropical
Sep 14, 06:0059.0N 48.9W50 ktExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1954

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.