Hurricane Esther (1961)

Basin

North Atlantic

Dates

September 10, 1961 to September 27, 1961

Peak strength

Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)

Lowest pressure

919 mb (27.14 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

48.7

Fastest the center moved

30 kt (35 mph)

Identifier

AL051961

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 points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,626 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 9.12 inches (232 mm).

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

• Hurricane AnnaNorth Atlantic · 1961Cat 290 kt · 976 mb
• Hurricane BetsyNorth Atlantic · 1961Cat 4115 kt · 945 mb
• Hurricane CarlaNorth Atlantic · 1961Cat 4125 kt · 927 mb
• Hurricane DebbieNorth Atlantic · 1961Cat 180 kt · 961 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1961Tropical Storm60 kt · 995 mb
• Hurricane FrancesNorth Atlantic · 1961Cat 4115 kt · 948 mb
• Hurricane GerdaNorth Atlantic · 1961Cat 165 kt · 988 mb
• Hurricane HattieNorth Atlantic · 1961Cat 5145 kt · 914 mb
• Hurricane JennyNorth Atlantic · 1961Cat 170 kt · 974 mb
• Tropical Storm IngaNorth Atlantic · 1961Tropical Storm60 kt · 997 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1961Tropical Storm50 kt · 1004 mb

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.

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.

• Wikipedia article: Hurricane Esther