The 1958 season

Hurricane Ella (1958)

Hurricane Ella reached Category 2 in the North Atlantic between August 30, 1958 and September 7, 1958, with a lowest pressure of 983 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Ella, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1958 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
August 30, 1958 to September 7, 1958
Peak strength
Category 2, 95 kt (109 mph)
Lowest pressure
983 mb (29.03 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
9.7
Fastest the center moved
24 kt (28 mph)
Identifier
AL051958

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 1, 12:00Les Cayes, Sud, Haiti, 37 km away18.2N 73.4W95 kt (109 mph)
Sep 2, 00:00Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba Province, Cuba, 32 km away20.0N 76.2W70 kt (81 mph)
Sep 3, 11:00Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, Cuba, 15 km away21.8N 82.7W55 kt (63 mph)1003 mb
Sep 3, 17:00Guane, Pinar del Rio, Cuba, 15 km away22.1N 84.0W60 kt (69 mph)1002 mb
Sep 6, 08:00Ingleside On-the-Bay, TX, 37 km away27.5N 97.2W50 kt (58 mph)1001 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 948 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 13.06 inches (332 mm).

StationTotalPosition
GALVESTON SCHOLES FLD13.06 in (332 mm)29.27N 94.87W
FREEPORT 2 NW11.44 in (291 mm)28.98N 95.38W
GEORGE WEST 2 SSW9.47 in (241 mm)28.30N 98.12W
ANGLETON 2 W8.58 in (218 mm)29.17N 95.45W
REFUGIO8.43 in (214 mm)28.30N 97.28W
WHITSETT 3 SW8.05 in (204 mm)28.63N 98.27W
HOUSTON HOBBY AP7.04 in (179 mm)29.63N 95.28W
PROVIDENT CITY7.00 in (178 mm)29.28N 96.63W
BAY CITY WTR WKS6.73 in (171 mm)29.00N 95.97W
HENLY6.60 in (168 mm)30.20N 98.22W
HOUSTON ELLINGTON AFB6.59 in (167 mm)29.60N 95.17W
GALVESTON6.52 in (166 mm)29.30N 94.80W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 30, 06:0012.5N 58.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 30, 12:0013.8N 60.0W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 18:0014.8N 61.9W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 31, 00:0015.5N 63.8W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 31, 06:0015.9N 65.5W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 31, 12:0016.0N 67.2W65 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 18:0016.3N 69.0W70 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 00:0016.8N 70.7W75 kt983 mbHurricane
Sep 1, 06:0017.5N 72.1W85 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 12:00 landfall18.2N 73.4W95 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 18:0019.1N 74.8W70 kt995 mbHurricane
Sep 2, 00:00 landfall20.0N 76.2W70 ktHurricane
Sep 2, 06:0020.7N 77.4W55 ktTropical storm
Sep 2, 12:0021.1N 78.2W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 2, 18:0021.3N 79.2W45 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 00:0021.5N 80.4W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 3, 06:0021.7N 81.7W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 3, 11:00 landfall21.8N 82.7W55 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 12:0021.9N 83.0W55 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 17:00 landfall22.1N 84.0W60 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 18:0022.1N 84.2W60 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 00:0022.4N 85.4W60 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 06:0022.8N 86.6W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 4, 12:0023.2N 87.7W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 4, 18:0023.8N 88.8W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 00:0024.7N 90.1W55 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 06:0025.6N 91.5W55 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 12:0026.3N 92.8W50 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 18:0026.8N 94.0W50 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 00:0027.1N 95.3W50 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 06:0027.4N 96.8W50 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 08:00 landfall27.5N 97.2W50 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 12:0027.5N 98.0W30 kt1001 mbTropical depression
Sep 6, 18:0027.5N 98.8W25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Sep 7, 00:0027.5N 99.5W25 kt1005 mbTropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 1958

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.