The 1963 season

Hurricane Arlene (1963)

Hurricane Arlene reached Category 3 in the North Atlantic between July 31, 1963 and August 14, 1963, with a lowest pressure of 969 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Arlene, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1963 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
July 31, 1963 to August 14, 1963
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
969 mb (28.61 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.7
Fastest the center moved
49 kt (56 mph)
Identifier
AL011963

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
Aug 9, 15:30Coast unnamed here32.3N 64.8W95 kt (109 mph)975 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)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jul 31, 18:0011.0N 39.4W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 1, 00:0011.0N 40.9W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 1, 06:0011.1N 42.2W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 1, 12:0011.2N 43.5W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 1, 18:0011.4N 44.8W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 2, 00:0011.8N 46.1W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 2, 06:0012.4N 47.4W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 2, 12:0013.3N 48.7W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 2, 18:0014.3N 49.9W60 kt987 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 00:0014.9N 51.1W55 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 06:0015.2N 52.4W50 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 12:0015.5N 53.9W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 18:0015.9N 55.3W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 4, 00:0016.3N 56.7W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 4, 06:0017.0N 58.0W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 4, 12:0017.9N 59.4W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 18:0019.0N 60.7W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 5, 00:0020.0N 62.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 5, 06:0020.7N 63.2W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 5, 12:0021.4N 64.2W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Aug 5, 18:0022.0N 65.2W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 6, 00:0022.8N 66.2W25 ktExtratropical
Aug 6, 06:0023.5N 67.1W25 ktExtratropical
Aug 6, 12:0024.0N 68.0W25 kt1012 mbExtratropical
Aug 6, 18:0024.5N 68.8W30 ktExtratropical
Aug 7, 00:0025.0N 69.5W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 7, 06:0025.7N 70.1W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 7, 12:0026.4N 70.3W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 7, 18:0027.0N 70.4W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 8, 00:0027.5N 70.4W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 8, 06:0027.9N 70.3W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 8, 12:0028.3N 69.9W65 kt992 mbHurricane
Aug 8, 18:0028.7N 69.3W75 kt981 mbHurricane
Aug 9, 00:0029.3N 68.5W75 ktHurricane
Aug 9, 06:0030.0N 67.6W80 ktHurricane
Aug 9, 12:0031.3N 66.2W90 kt979 mbHurricane
Aug 9, 15:30 landfall32.3N 64.8W95 kt975 mbHurricane
Aug 9, 18:0032.8N 64.0W100 kt970 mbHurricane
Aug 10, 00:0034.7N 61.5W100 kt969 mbHurricane
Aug 10, 06:0036.4N 59.0W95 kt977 mbHurricane
Aug 10, 12:0038.2N 56.3W85 kt985 mbHurricane
Aug 10, 18:0040.0N 54.0W75 ktHurricane
Aug 11, 00:0042.0N 51.6W65 ktHurricane
Aug 11, 06:0043.5N 49.0W55 ktExtratropical
Aug 11, 12:0044.4N 45.8W50 ktExtratropical
Aug 11, 18:0045.2N 42.5W45 ktExtratropical
Aug 12, 00:0045.2N 40.0W45 ktExtratropical
Aug 12, 06:0045.0N 37.5W40 ktExtratropical
Aug 12, 12:0044.0N 35.0W35 ktExtratropical
Aug 12, 18:0043.0N 31.0W35 ktExtratropical
Aug 13, 00:0041.0N 25.0W30 ktExtratropical
Aug 13, 06:0039.0N 21.0W30 ktExtratropical
Aug 13, 12:0037.0N 17.0W30 ktExtratropical
Aug 13, 18:0035.0N 16.0W30 ktExtratropical
Aug 14, 00:0034.0N 16.0W25 ktExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1963

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.