Hurricane Ethel (1960)
Hurricane Ethel reached Category 3 in the North Atlantic between September 12, 1960 and September 17, 1960, with a lowest pressure of 974 mb, and made landfall.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Hurricane Ethel. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.
Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- September 12, 1960 to September 17, 1960
- Peak strength
- Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 974 mb (28.76 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 5.6
- Fastest the center moved
- 19 kt (22 mph)
- Identifier
- AL061960
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 21:00 | West Gulfport, MS, 9 km away | 30.4N 89.0W | 70 kt (81 mph) | 980 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 1,736 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 12.94 inches (329 mm).
| Station | Total | Position |
|---|---|---|
| MILTON EXPERIMENT STN | 12.94 in (329 mm) | 30.78N 87.13W |
| SAUCIER EXP FOREST | 8.00 in (203 mm) | 30.62N 89.05W |
| QUARANTINE | 7.45 in (189 mm) | 29.22N 89.27W |
| PENSACOLA REGIONAL AP | 7.04 in (179 mm) | 30.48N 87.18W |
| MC HENRY 5 ESE | 6.68 in (170 mm) | 30.68N 89.07W |
| PENSACOLA SAUFLEY NAS | 6.51 in (165 mm) | 30.48N 87.35W |
| GULFPORT NAVAL CTR | 6.41 in (163 mm) | 30.37N 89.12W |
| FRISCO CITY 3 SSW | 6.36 in (162 mm) | 31.38N 87.42W |
| CHATOM | 5.77 in (147 mm) | 31.47N 88.25W |
| ATMORE | 5.65 in (144 mm) | 31.17N 87.43W |
| BREWTON 3 SSE | 5.59 in (142 mm) | 31.05N 87.05W |
| BAY SAINT LOUIS | 5.58 in (142 mm) | 30.30N 89.33W |
WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12, 18:00 | 22.0N 93.0W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 13, 00:00 | 22.3N 92.7W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 13, 06:00 | 22.4N 92.4W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 13, 12:00 | 22.6N 92.1W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 13, 18:00 | 22.8N 91.9W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 14, 00:00 | 23.1N 91.7W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 14, 06:00 | 23.4N 91.3W | 60 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 14, 12:00 | 23.9N 90.8W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 14, 18:00 | 25.6N 90.0W | 100 kt | 974 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 15, 00:00 | 27.1N 89.2W | 100 kt | 976 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 15, 06:00 | 28.4N 88.8W | 80 kt | 981 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 15, 12:00 | 29.4N 88.7W | 75 kt | 985 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 15, 18:00 | 30.1N 88.8W | 70 kt | 984 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 15, 21:00 landfall | 30.4N 89.0W | 70 kt | 980 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 16, 00:00 | 30.6N 89.1W | 55 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 16, 06:00 | 31.2N 89.0W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 16, 12:00 | 32.0N 88.9W | 30 kt | 1007 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 16, 18:00 | 32.9N 88.7W | 25 kt | 1010 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 17, 00:00 | 33.9N 88.4W | 25 kt | 1011 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 17, 06:00 | 34.9N 88.0W | 20 kt | 1012 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 17, 12:00 | 35.9N 87.4W | 20 kt | 1013 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 17, 18:00 | 36.8N 86.6W | 20 kt | 1015 mb | Tropical depression |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1960
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.