The 1964 season

Hurricane Hilda (1964)

Hurricane Hilda reached Category 4 in the North Atlantic between September 28, 1964 and October 7, 1964, with a lowest pressure of 941 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Hilda, 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 28, 1964 to October 7, 1964
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Lowest pressure
941 mb (27.79 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
17.0
Fastest the center moved
17 kt (20 mph)
Identifier
AL101964

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.

Landfalls

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Sep 29, 11:00Guane, Pinar del Rio, Cuba, 35 km away21.9N 84.0W35 kt (40 mph)
Oct 3, 23:00Patterson, LA, 29 km away29.5N 91.5W90 kt (104 mph)959 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.

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,611 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 17.71 inches (450 mm).

StationTotalPosition
JEANERETTE 5 NW17.71 in (450 mm)29.97N 91.72W
NEW IBERIA NAAS15.52 in (394 mm)30.03N 91.88W
SMITHFIELD13.00 in (330 mm)35.52N 78.35W
WAYNESBORO 2 S12.73 in (323 mm)33.07N 82.02W
MCCOMB PIKE COUNTY AP12.57 in (319 mm)31.18N 90.47W
WEWAHITCHKA12.42 in (315 mm)30.12N 85.20W
CINCLARE12.40 in (315 mm)30.40N 91.23W
CAESARS HEAD12.02 in (305 mm)35.12N 82.63W
HENDERSON 2 W11.95 in (304 mm)30.32N 91.82W
ATCHAFALAYA11.84 in (301 mm)30.35N 91.72W
CLEVELAND 3S11.71 in (297 mm)35.03N 82.48W
LAKE TOXAWAY 2 SW11.66 in (296 mm)35.12N 82.97W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 28, 12:0021.2N 80.0W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 28, 18:0021.3N 81.1W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 29, 00:0021.4N 82.1W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 29, 06:0021.7N 83.2W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 29, 11:00 landfall21.9N 84.0W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 29, 12:0022.0N 84.2W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 29, 18:0022.4N 85.2W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 30, 00:0022.8N 86.2W55 kt997 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 06:0023.1N 87.2W60 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 12:0023.4N 88.2W70 kt984 mbHurricane
Sep 30, 18:0023.8N 89.0W80 kt978 mbHurricane
Oct 1, 00:0024.1N 89.5W85 kt977 mbHurricane
Oct 1, 06:0024.3N 90.1W105 kt955 mbHurricane
Oct 1, 12:0024.5N 90.6W110 kt951 mbHurricane
Oct 1, 18:0024.8N 91.1W120 kt941 mbHurricane
Oct 2, 00:0025.3N 91.5W120 kt942 mbHurricane
Oct 2, 06:0025.8N 91.7W110 kt949 mbHurricane
Oct 2, 12:0026.3N 91.7W105 kt956 mbHurricane
Oct 2, 18:0026.8N 91.6W100 kt958 mbHurricane
Oct 3, 00:0027.2N 91.2W100 kt960 mbHurricane
Oct 3, 06:0027.7N 91.2W100 kt964 mbHurricane
Oct 3, 12:0028.1N 91.3W95 kt962 mbHurricane
Oct 3, 18:0028.8N 91.6W90 kt961 mbHurricane
Oct 3, 23:00 landfall29.5N 91.5W90 kt959 mbHurricane
Oct 4, 00:0029.7N 91.5W90 kt959 mbHurricane
Oct 4, 06:0030.2N 91.3W70 ktHurricane
Oct 4, 12:0030.6N 90.6W60 ktTropical storm
Oct 4, 18:0030.7N 89.3W55 ktTropical storm
Oct 5, 00:0030.5N 87.6W50 ktExtratropical
Oct 5, 06:0030.6N 86.0W50 ktExtratropical
Oct 5, 12:0030.8N 84.4W45 ktExtratropical
Oct 5, 18:0031.0N 82.5W45 ktExtratropical
Oct 6, 00:0031.0N 80.6W45 ktExtratropical
Oct 6, 06:0030.8N 79.0W45 ktExtratropical
Oct 6, 12:0030.6N 78.0W45 ktExtratropical
Oct 6, 18:0030.5N 77.0W45 ktExtratropical
Oct 7, 00:0030.4N 76.5W50 ktExtratropical
Oct 7, 06:0030.1N 76.2W55 ktExtratropical
Oct 7, 12:0029.8N 76.1W55 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.