Hurricane Kara (1969)
Hurricane Kara reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between October 7, 1969 and October 19, 1969, with a lowest pressure of 978 mb.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Hurricane Kara. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.























Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- October 7, 1969 to October 19, 1969
- Peak strength
- Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 978 mb (28.88 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 79 km (49 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 7.3
- Identifier
- AL251969
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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 7, 12:00 | 19.8N 68.2W | 30 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical depression |
| Oct 7, 18:00 | 20.1N 69.0W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 8, 00:00 | 20.5N 70.0W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 8, 06:00 | 20.9N 71.1W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 8, 12:00 | 21.5N 72.3W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 8, 18:00 | 22.4N 73.2W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 9, 00:00 | 23.5N 73.6W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 9, 06:00 | 24.7N 73.7W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 9, 12:00 | 25.8N 73.6W | 35 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 9, 18:00 | 26.8N 73.3W | 40 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 10, 00:00 | 27.8N 72.8W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 10, 06:00 | 28.4N 72.4W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 10, 12:00 | 28.9N 72.0W | 40 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 10, 18:00 | 29.4N 71.4W | 40 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 11, 00:00 | 30.0N 70.6W | 40 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 11, 06:00 | 30.7N 69.9W | 40 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 11, 12:00 | 32.1N 69.8W | 40 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 11, 18:00 | 34.0N 70.2W | 40 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 12, 00:00 | 34.5N 70.6W | 45 kt | 998 mb | Subtropical storm |
| Oct 12, 06:00 | 34.8N 70.7W | 45 kt | 997 mb | Subtropical storm |
| Oct 12, 12:00 | 34.8N 70.9W | 45 kt | 997 mb | Subtropical storm |
| Oct 12, 18:00 | 34.3N 71.3W | 45 kt | 999 mb | Subtropical storm |
| Oct 13, 00:00 | 33.8N 71.4W | 45 kt | 997 mb | Subtropical storm |
| Oct 13, 06:00 | 33.2N 71.6W | 45 kt | 998 mb | Subtropical storm |
| Oct 13, 12:00 | 32.7N 72.7W | 45 kt | 995 mb | Subtropical storm |
| Oct 13, 18:00 | 31.9N 73.8W | 45 kt | 997 mb | Subtropical storm |
| Oct 14, 00:00 | 31.2N 74.5W | 45 kt | 998 mb | Subtropical storm |
| Oct 14, 06:00 | 31.4N 75.0W | 45 kt | 996 mb | Subtropical storm |
| Oct 14, 12:00 | 31.8N 75.5W | 55 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 14, 18:00 | 31.6N 76.0W | 55 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 15, 00:00 | 31.6N 75.3W | 60 kt | 988 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 15, 06:00 | 32.0N 74.5W | 65 kt | 985 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 15, 12:00 | 32.7N 73.5W | 65 kt | 984 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 15, 18:00 | 33.1N 72.4W | 60 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 16, 00:00 | 33.5N 71.2W | 60 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 16, 06:00 | 34.1N 70.0W | 60 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 16, 12:00 | 34.8N 68.7W | 60 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 16, 18:00 | 35.7N 67.2W | 65 kt | 990 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 17, 00:00 | 36.9N 65.0W | 65 kt | 990 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 17, 06:00 | 38.3N 62.7W | 70 kt | 986 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 17, 12:00 | 39.6N 60.0W | 75 kt | 985 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 17, 18:00 | 41.1N 56.3W | 80 kt | 978 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 18, 00:00 | 43.3N 50.8W | 80 kt | 979 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 18, 06:00 | 45.2N 45.3W | 75 kt | 980 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 18, 12:00 | 46.1N 40.0W | 65 kt | Extratropical | |
| Oct 18, 18:00 | 46.2N 35.1W | 60 kt | Extratropical | |
| Oct 19, 00:00 | 46.0N 30.3W | 55 kt | Extratropical | |
| Oct 19, 06:00 | 45.8N 28.0W | 45 kt | Extratropical |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Tropical Storm AnnaNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Hurricane BlancheNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Hurricane CamilleNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Hurricane DebbieNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Tropical Storm EveNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Hurricane FranceliaNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Hurricane GerdaNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Hurricane HollyNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Hurricane IngaNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Unnamed hurricaneNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Tropical Storm JennyNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Hurricane LaurieNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Unnamed hurricaneNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Hurricane MarthaNorth Atlantic · 1969
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.