The 1964 season

Hurricane Ethel (1964)

Hurricane Ethel reached Category 2 in the North Atlantic between September 4, 1964 and September 17, 1964, with a lowest pressure of 969 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Ethel, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1964 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
September 4, 1964 to September 17, 1964
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
969 mb (28.61 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 404 km (251 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
17.0
Identifier
AL071964

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.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 4, 06:0017.7N 35.6W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 4, 12:0018.0N 37.0W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 4, 18:0018.4N 38.4W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 00:0018.8N 39.9W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 06:0019.2N 41.5W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 12:0019.5N 43.0W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 18:0019.9N 44.7W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 00:0020.3N 46.4W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 06:0020.9N 48.3W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 12:0022.0N 50.3W35 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 18:0023.3N 52.3W40 kt1007 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 00:0024.3N 53.8W40 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 06:0025.0N 55.2W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 12:0025.6N 56.5W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 18:0026.3N 57.7W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 8, 00:0026.9N 58.8W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 8, 06:0027.2N 59.5W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 8, 12:0027.4N 60.2W55 kt999 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 18:0027.5N 60.6W65 kt986 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 00:0027.6N 61.1W65 kt988 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 06:0027.7N 61.5W65 kt989 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 12:0027.7N 62.2W65 kt984 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 18:0027.7N 63.1W65 ktHurricane
Sep 10, 00:0027.6N 64.0W70 ktHurricane
Sep 10, 06:0027.4N 64.8W70 ktHurricane
Sep 10, 12:0027.3N 65.4W75 kt976 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 18:0027.4N 65.8W75 kt977 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 00:0027.5N 66.0W75 ktHurricane
Sep 11, 06:0027.8N 66.2W70 ktHurricane
Sep 11, 12:0028.2N 66.4W70 kt983 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 18:0028.8N 66.7W75 kt977 mbHurricane
Sep 12, 00:0029.5N 67.0W75 ktHurricane
Sep 12, 06:0030.3N 67.2W80 ktHurricane
Sep 12, 12:0031.1N 67.3W80 kt974 mbHurricane
Sep 12, 18:0031.9N 66.9W80 kt976 mbHurricane
Sep 13, 00:0032.9N 66.1W80 ktHurricane
Sep 13, 06:0034.1N 64.9W85 ktHurricane
Sep 13, 12:0035.5N 63.2W90 ktHurricane
Sep 13, 18:0037.0N 61.4W90 ktHurricane
Sep 14, 00:0038.4N 59.4W90 ktHurricane
Sep 14, 06:0040.0N 57.2W90 ktHurricane
Sep 14, 12:0041.5N 54.8W90 ktHurricane
Sep 14, 18:0042.9N 51.9W85 kt969 mbExtratropical
Sep 15, 00:0044.0N 49.0W75 ktExtratropical
Sep 15, 06:0044.8N 45.7W65 ktExtratropical
Sep 15, 12:0045.0N 42.2W60 ktExtratropical
Sep 15, 18:0044.8N 38.3W60 ktExtratropical
Sep 16, 00:0044.4N 34.8W55 ktExtratropical
Sep 16, 06:0044.0N 31.5W50 ktExtratropical
Sep 16, 12:0043.5N 29.0W45 ktExtratropical
Sep 16, 18:0042.5N 27.5W40 ktExtratropical
Sep 17, 00:0041.5N 26.5W35 ktExtratropical
Sep 17, 06:0040.5N 25.7W30 ktExtratropical
Sep 17, 12:0039.5N 25.0W30 ktExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1964

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.