The 1961 season

Hurricane Debbie (1961)

Hurricane Debbie reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between September 5, 1961 and September 18, 1961, with a lowest pressure of 961 mb, and made landfall.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Hurricane Debbie. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

Open the live radar with storms, cones and warnings

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
September 5, 1961 to September 18, 1961
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
961 mb (28.38 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
17.3
Fastest the center moved
48 kt (55 mph)
Identifier
AL041961

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 6, 13:00Praia, Praia, Cabo Verde, 14 km away15.0N 23.4W40 kt (46 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.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 5, 12:0013.5N 17.7W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 5, 18:0014.1N 19.3W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 6, 00:0014.6N 20.7W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 6, 06:0014.9N 22.0W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 12:0015.0N 23.2W40 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 13:00 landfall15.0N 23.4W40 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 18:0015.1N 24.4W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 00:0015.2N 25.6W65 ktHurricane
Sep 7, 06:0015.4N 26.8W70 ktHurricane
Sep 7, 12:0015.7N 28.1W70 ktHurricane
Sep 7, 18:0016.1N 29.4W70 ktHurricane
Sep 8, 00:0016.5N 30.7W70 ktHurricane
Sep 8, 06:0017.0N 32.0W70 ktHurricane
Sep 8, 12:0017.5N 33.2W70 ktHurricane
Sep 8, 18:0018.0N 34.5W70 ktHurricane
Sep 9, 00:0018.5N 35.7W70 ktHurricane
Sep 9, 06:0019.1N 37.0W70 ktHurricane
Sep 9, 12:0019.7N 38.2W70 ktHurricane
Sep 9, 18:0020.4N 39.4W70 ktHurricane
Sep 10, 00:0021.2N 40.6W70 ktHurricane
Sep 10, 06:0022.0N 41.8W70 ktHurricane
Sep 10, 12:0022.8N 43.0W75 ktHurricane
Sep 10, 18:0023.8N 44.1W75 ktHurricane
Sep 11, 00:0025.0N 45.0W75 ktHurricane
Sep 11, 06:0026.5N 45.7W75 ktHurricane
Sep 11, 12:0027.9N 46.0W80 ktHurricane
Sep 11, 18:0029.2N 46.1W80 kt976 mbHurricane
Sep 12, 00:0030.4N 46.1W80 ktHurricane
Sep 12, 06:0031.5N 46.0W80 ktHurricane
Sep 12, 12:0032.3N 45.8W80 kt975 mbHurricane
Sep 12, 18:0033.1N 45.6W75 ktHurricane
Sep 13, 00:0033.9N 45.4W75 ktHurricane
Sep 13, 06:0034.6N 45.0W70 kt980 mbHurricane
Sep 13, 12:0035.1N 44.2W70 ktHurricane
Sep 13, 18:0035.5N 43.0W70 ktHurricane
Sep 14, 00:0035.9N 41.3W70 ktHurricane
Sep 14, 06:0036.2N 39.4W70 ktHurricane
Sep 14, 12:0036.5N 37.0W70 ktHurricane
Sep 14, 18:0037.0N 34.4W70 ktHurricane
Sep 15, 00:0037.8N 31.0W70 ktExtratropical
Sep 15, 06:0039.5N 26.4W70 ktExtratropical
Sep 15, 12:0041.7N 22.2W70 ktExtratropical
Sep 15, 18:0044.6N 18.2W70 ktExtratropical
Sep 16, 00:0048.0N 14.8W70 ktExtratropical
Sep 16, 06:0051.7N 11.6W75 ktExtratropical
Sep 16, 12:0056.0N 8.5W75 kt961 mbExtratropical
Sep 16, 18:0060.5N 5.8W75 ktExtratropical
Sep 17, 00:0064.0N 3.0W70 ktExtratropical
Sep 17, 06:0066.0N 0.0E65 ktExtratropical
Sep 17, 12:0067.0N 2.0E55 ktExtratropical
Sep 17, 18:0067.5N 6.0E45 ktExtratropical
Sep 18, 00:0068.0N 12.0E40 ktExtratropical
Sep 18, 06:0068.5N 18.0E35 ktExtratropical
Sep 18, 12:0069.0N 25.0E35 ktExtratropical
Sep 18, 18:0069.5N 33.0E30 ktExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1961

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.