Tropical Storm Bertha (1957)
Tropical Storm Bertha peaked at 55 kt in the North Atlantic between August 8, 1957 and August 11, 1957, with a lowest pressure of 998 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm Bertha, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1957 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 8, 1957 to August 11, 1957
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 55 kt (63 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 998 mb (29.47 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 2.1
- Fastest the center moved
- 11 kt (13 mph)
- Identifier
- AL031957
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) | Where | Position | Wind | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10, 06:00 | Port Arthur, TX, 21 km away | 29.7N 93.9W | 55 kt (63 mph) | 998 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 1,749 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 13.77 inches (350 mm).
| Station | Total | Position |
|---|---|---|
| DAMASCUS 2 NNE | 13.77 in (350 mm) | 35.40N 92.37W |
| ABBOTT | 12.30 in (312 mm) | 35.07N 94.20W |
| KENNETT RADIO KBOA | 11.48 in (292 mm) | 36.22N 90.07W |
| RUSSELLVILLE | 11.37 in (289 mm) | 35.28N 93.10W |
| PERRYVILLE | 11.09 in (282 mm) | 35.00N 92.82W |
| LONG LAKE 5 SW | 10.87 in (276 mm) | 31.62N 95.85W |
| DANVILLE | 10.77 in (274 mm) | 35.03N 93.38W |
| LIVINGSTON 2 NNE | 10.73 in (273 mm) | 30.73N 94.92W |
| DARDANELLE | 10.13 in (257 mm) | 35.23N 93.17W |
| CABOT | 8.94 in (227 mm) | 34.97N 92.00W |
| MT MAGAZINE | 8.92 in (227 mm) | 35.17N 93.68W |
| PALESTINE | 8.73 in (222 mm) | 31.75N 95.67W |
WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 8, 00:00 | 27.0N 87.4W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 8, 06:00 | 27.0N 88.0W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 8, 12:00 | 27.0N 88.6W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 8, 18:00 | 27.2N 89.2W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 9, 00:00 | 27.5N 89.9W | 55 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 9, 06:00 | 27.8N 90.6W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 9, 12:00 | 28.3N 91.3W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 9, 18:00 | 29.0N 92.2W | 50 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 10, 00:00 | 29.5N 93.1W | 55 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 10, 06:00 landfall | 29.7N 93.9W | 55 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 10, 12:00 | 30.1N 94.6W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 10, 18:00 | 30.8N 95.1W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 11, 00:00 | 31.7N 95.2W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 11, 06:00 | 32.7N 95.2W | 25 kt | Tropical depression |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1957
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.