Hurricane Martha (1969)
Hurricane Martha reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between November 20, 1969 and November 25, 1969, with a lowest pressure of 979 mb, and made landfall.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Hurricane Martha. 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
- November 20, 1969 to November 25, 1969
- Peak strength
- Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 979 mb (28.91 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 5.4
- Fastest the center moved
- 4 kt (5 mph)
- Identifier
- AL291969
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 24, 18:00 | Santiago de Veraguas, Veraguas Province, Panama, 79 km away | 8.8N 81.1W | 40 kt (46 mph) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 20, 12:00 | 11.2N 79.8W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Nov 20, 18:00 | 11.0N 79.9W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Nov 21, 00:00 | 10.8N 80.0W | 35 kt | 1003 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 21, 06:00 | 10.6N 80.2W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Nov 21, 12:00 | 10.5N 80.5W | 55 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Nov 21, 18:00 | 10.4N 80.8W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Nov 22, 00:00 | 10.3N 81.0W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Nov 22, 06:00 | 10.3N 81.0W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Nov 22, 12:00 | 10.3N 81.0W | 80 kt | 979 mb | Hurricane |
| Nov 22, 18:00 | 10.2N 81.0W | 75 kt | 982 mb | Hurricane |
| Nov 23, 00:00 | 10.1N 81.0W | 70 kt | 986 mb | Hurricane |
| Nov 23, 06:00 | 10.0N 81.0W | 55 kt | 993 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 23, 12:00 | 9.9N 81.0W | 45 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 23, 18:00 | 9.7N 81.0W | 45 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 24, 00:00 | 9.4N 81.0W | 45 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 24, 06:00 | 9.2N 81.0W | 45 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 24, 12:00 | 9.0N 81.0W | 45 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 24, 18:00 landfall | 8.8N 81.1W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Nov 25, 00:00 | 8.7N 81.3W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Nov 25, 06:00 | 8.6N 81.6W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Nov 25, 12:00 | 8.5N 82.0W | 25 kt | Tropical depression |
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 KaraNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Hurricane LaurieNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1969
- Unnamed hurricaneNorth 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.