The 1957 season

Tropical Storm Esther (1957)

Tropical Storm Esther peaked at 55 kt in the North Atlantic between September 16, 1957 and September 19, 1957, with a lowest pressure of 1000 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Esther, 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.

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The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
September 16, 1957 to September 19, 1957
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 55 kt (63 mph)
Lowest pressure
1000 mb (29.53 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
2.2
Fastest the center moved
16 kt (18 mph)
Identifier
AL061957

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
Sep 18, 12:00Dulac, LA, 28 km away29.2N 90.9W55 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 2,139 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 18.39 inches (467 mm).

StationTotalPosition
QUARANTINE18.39 in (467 mm)29.22N 89.27W
VANCLEAVE14.19 in (360 mm)30.48N 88.65W
BURAS13.78 in (350 mm)29.33N 89.50W
BURRWOOD WB13.35 in (339 mm)28.97N 89.38W
KEESLER AFB11.91 in (303 mm)30.42N 88.92W
PORT SULPHUR11.75 in (298 mm)29.48N 89.70W
GULFPORT NAVAL CTR11.45 in (291 mm)30.37N 89.12W
HOPEDALE11.28 in (287 mm)29.82N 89.65W
BAY SAINT LOUIS11.14 in (283 mm)30.30N 89.33W
RICHTON 12 NNE11.12 in (282 mm)31.53N 88.90W
BILOXI11.10 in (282 mm)30.38N 89.00W
SAUCIER EXP FOREST10.71 in (272 mm)30.62N 89.05W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 16, 00:0020.8N 93.0W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 16, 06:0021.4N 93.0W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 16, 12:0022.0N 93.0W40 ktTropical storm
Sep 16, 18:0022.7N 93.0W40 ktTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0023.4N 93.0W40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0024.1N 93.0W40 ktTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0024.5N 93.0W40 ktTropical storm
Sep 17, 18:0025.1N 92.8W40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 00:0026.4N 92.3W45 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 06:0027.9N 91.6W50 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 12:00 landfall29.2N 90.9W55 ktTropical storm
Sep 18, 18:0030.4N 90.7W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 19, 00:0031.5N 90.7W35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 06:0032.5N 90.9W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 19, 12:0033.5N 91.0W25 ktTropical 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.