Hurricane Hattie (1961)
Hurricane Hattie reached Category 5 in the North Atlantic between October 26, 1961 and November 1, 1961, with a lowest pressure of 914 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Hattie, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1961 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- October 26, 1961 to November 1, 1961
- Peak strength
- Category 5, 145 kt (167 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 914 mb (26.99 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 20.4
- Fastest the center moved
- 12 kt (14 mph)
- Identifier
- AL091961
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 31, 12:00 | Belize City, Belize District, Belize, 46 km away | 17.1N 88.3W | 130 kt (150 mph) | 924 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.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 26, 00:00 | 10.5N 79.0W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 26, 06:00 | 10.6N 79.5W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 26, 12:00 | 10.7N 80.0W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 26, 18:00 | 10.8N 80.5W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 27, 00:00 | 11.0N 81.0W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 27, 06:00 | 11.3N 81.5W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 27, 12:00 | 11.6N 81.8W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 27, 18:00 | 12.0N 81.8W | 60 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 28, 00:00 | 12.4N 81.7W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 28, 06:00 | 12.9N 81.7W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 28, 12:00 | 13.5N 81.6W | 90 kt | 969 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 28, 18:00 | 14.2N 81.5W | 105 kt | 956 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 29, 00:00 | 15.0N 81.4W | 110 kt | 952 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 29, 06:00 | 16.0N 81.2W | 100 kt | 960 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 29, 12:00 | 16.9N 81.3W | 100 kt | 963 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 29, 18:00 | 17.7N 81.8W | 100 kt | 956 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 30, 00:00 | 18.1N 82.5W | 100 kt | 958 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 30, 06:00 | 18.5N 83.6W | 115 kt | 942 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 30, 12:00 | 18.4N 84.4W | 120 kt | 937 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 30, 18:00 | 18.2N 85.2W | 135 kt | 923 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 31, 00:00 | 18.0N 86.1W | 145 kt | 914 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 31, 06:00 | 17.5N 87.2W | 135 kt | 920 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 31, 12:00 landfall | 17.1N 88.3W | 130 kt | 924 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 31, 18:00 | 16.8N 89.3W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Nov 1, 00:00 | 16.4N 90.2W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Nov 1, 06:00 | 16.0N 91.1W | 30 kt | Tropical depression |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1961
- Hurricane AnnaNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Hurricane BetsyNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Hurricane CarlaNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Hurricane DebbieNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Hurricane EstherNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Hurricane FrancesNorth Atlantic · 1961
- Hurricane GerdaNorth 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.