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.























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) | Where | Position | Wind | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 6, 13:00 | Praia, Praia, Cabo Verde, 14 km away | 15.0N 23.4W | 40 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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5, 12:00 | 13.5N 17.7W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 5, 18:00 | 14.1N 19.3W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 6, 00:00 | 14.6N 20.7W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 6, 06:00 | 14.9N 22.0W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 6, 12:00 | 15.0N 23.2W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 6, 13:00 landfall | 15.0N 23.4W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 6, 18:00 | 15.1N 24.4W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 7, 00:00 | 15.2N 25.6W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 7, 06:00 | 15.4N 26.8W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 7, 12:00 | 15.7N 28.1W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 7, 18:00 | 16.1N 29.4W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 8, 00:00 | 16.5N 30.7W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 8, 06:00 | 17.0N 32.0W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 8, 12:00 | 17.5N 33.2W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 8, 18:00 | 18.0N 34.5W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 9, 00:00 | 18.5N 35.7W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 9, 06:00 | 19.1N 37.0W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 9, 12:00 | 19.7N 38.2W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 9, 18:00 | 20.4N 39.4W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 10, 00:00 | 21.2N 40.6W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 10, 06:00 | 22.0N 41.8W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 10, 12:00 | 22.8N 43.0W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 10, 18:00 | 23.8N 44.1W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 11, 00:00 | 25.0N 45.0W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 11, 06:00 | 26.5N 45.7W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 11, 12:00 | 27.9N 46.0W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 11, 18:00 | 29.2N 46.1W | 80 kt | 976 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 12, 00:00 | 30.4N 46.1W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 12, 06:00 | 31.5N 46.0W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 12, 12:00 | 32.3N 45.8W | 80 kt | 975 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 12, 18:00 | 33.1N 45.6W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 13, 00:00 | 33.9N 45.4W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 13, 06:00 | 34.6N 45.0W | 70 kt | 980 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 13, 12:00 | 35.1N 44.2W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 13, 18:00 | 35.5N 43.0W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 14, 00:00 | 35.9N 41.3W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 14, 06:00 | 36.2N 39.4W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 14, 12:00 | 36.5N 37.0W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 14, 18:00 | 37.0N 34.4W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 15, 00:00 | 37.8N 31.0W | 70 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 15, 06:00 | 39.5N 26.4W | 70 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 15, 12:00 | 41.7N 22.2W | 70 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 15, 18:00 | 44.6N 18.2W | 70 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 16, 00:00 | 48.0N 14.8W | 70 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 16, 06:00 | 51.7N 11.6W | 75 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 16, 12:00 | 56.0N 8.5W | 75 kt | 961 mb | Extratropical |
| Sep 16, 18:00 | 60.5N 5.8W | 75 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 17, 00:00 | 64.0N 3.0W | 70 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 17, 06:00 | 66.0N 0.0E | 65 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 17, 12:00 | 67.0N 2.0E | 55 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 17, 18:00 | 67.5N 6.0E | 45 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 18, 00:00 | 68.0N 12.0E | 40 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 18, 06:00 | 68.5N 18.0E | 35 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 18, 12:00 | 69.0N 25.0E | 35 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 18, 18:00 | 69.5N 33.0E | 30 kt | Extratropical |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1961
- Hurricane AnnaNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Hurricane BetsyNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Hurricane CarlaNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Hurricane EstherNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Hurricane FrancesNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Hurricane GerdaNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Hurricane HattieNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Hurricane JennyNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Tropical Storm IngaNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 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.