The 1959 season

Hurricane Judith (1959)

Hurricane Judith reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between October 14, 1959 and October 22, 1959, with a lowest pressure of 988 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Judith, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1959 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
October 14, 1959 to October 22, 1959
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
988 mb (29.18 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
6.8
Fastest the center moved
34 kt (39 mph)
Identifier
AL111959

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 18, 14:00Bokeelia, FL, 14 km away26.7N 82.3W55 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 148 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 7.90 inches (201 mm).

StationTotalPosition
MILES CITY TOWER7.90 in (201 mm)26.18N 81.35W
FORT MYERS PAGE FIELD7.63 in (194 mm)26.58N 81.87W
NITTAW 1 S6.35 in (161 mm)27.93N 81.00W
DEVILS GARDEN6.22 in (158 mm)26.60N 81.13W
FORT PIERCE5.98 in (152 mm)27.47N 80.35W
BIG CYPRESS INDIAN RESERVATIO5.86 in (149 mm)26.32N 81.00W
MOORE HAVEN LOCK 15.78 in (147 mm)26.83N 81.08W
DAYTONA BEACH5.37 in (136 mm)29.18N 81.07W
VERO BEACH MUNIL AP5.31 in (135 mm)27.65N 80.42W
LAKE PLACID 2 SW5.16 in (131 mm)27.28N 81.38W
LAKE TRAFFORD5.09 in (129 mm)26.43N 81.48W
WEST PALM BEACH INTL ARPT4.79 in (122 mm)26.68N 80.10W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 14, 06:0014.0N 73.5W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 14, 12:0014.0N 75.3W35 ktTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:0014.0N 77.0W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:0014.1N 78.5W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0014.3N 79.7W35 ktTropical storm
Oct 15, 12:0014.6N 80.7W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 15, 18:0015.0N 81.5W25 ktTropical depression
Oct 16, 00:0015.6N 82.2W25 ktDisturbance
Oct 16, 06:0016.4N 82.9W25 ktDisturbance
Oct 16, 12:0017.4N 83.6W25 ktDisturbance
Oct 16, 18:0018.6N 84.3W25 ktDisturbance
Oct 17, 00:0019.8N 84.8W25 ktDisturbance
Oct 17, 06:0021.0N 85.1W25 ktDisturbance
Oct 17, 12:0022.3N 85.1W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 17, 18:0023.8N 84.5W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 18, 00:0025.0N 84.0W55 ktTropical storm
Oct 18, 06:0026.0N 83.4W55 ktTropical storm
Oct 18, 12:0026.7N 82.5W55 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 14:00 landfall26.7N 82.3W55 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 18:0027.0N 80.5W45 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 00:0027.5N 77.2W55 kt997 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 06:0028.5N 73.6W65 kt993 mbHurricane
Oct 19, 12:0029.6N 70.0W75 kt988 mbHurricane
Oct 19, 18:0030.5N 66.2W75 ktHurricane
Oct 20, 00:0031.0N 62.6W70 ktHurricane
Oct 20, 06:0031.0N 59.5W70 ktHurricane
Oct 20, 12:0031.0N 57.5W70 ktHurricane
Oct 20, 18:0031.1N 56.5W70 ktHurricane
Oct 21, 00:0031.3N 55.7W60 ktTropical storm
Oct 21, 06:0031.5N 55.3W55 ktTropical storm
Oct 21, 12:0031.7N 55.0W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 21, 18:0031.8N 54.8W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 22, 00:0032.0N 54.0W35 ktTropical storm
Oct 22, 06:0032.0N 52.5W30 ktTropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 1959

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.