The 1970 season

Tropical Storm Becky (1970)

Tropical Storm Becky peaked at 55 kt in the North Atlantic between July 19, 1970 and July 23, 1970, with a lowest pressure of 1003 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Becky, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1970 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 19, 1970 to July 23, 1970
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 55 kt (63 mph)
Lowest pressure
1003 mb (29.62 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
2.4
Fastest the center moved
22 kt (25 mph)
Identifier
AL021970

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
Jul 22, 10:00Port Saint Joe, FL, 12 km away29.7N 85.3W40 kt (46 mph)1007 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 1,444 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 10.50 inches (267 mm).

StationTotalPosition
WILLIAM O HUSKE L&D10.50 in (267 mm)34.83N 78.82W
TALLAHASSEE RGNL AP8.18 in (208 mm)30.38N 84.35W
MELVIN7.41 in (188 mm)31.92N 88.45W
SHUBUTA7.08 in (180 mm)31.85N 88.68W
TALLAPOOSA 2 N6.50 in (165 mm)33.77N 85.30W
ANDREWS6.40 in (163 mm)33.43N 79.57W
LONG CREEK6.19 in (157 mm)34.78N 83.27W
OCALA6.07 in (154 mm)29.07N 82.07W
HIGHLANDS5.84 in (148 mm)35.05N 83.18W
WINTER HAVEN5.69 in (145 mm)28.00N 81.72W
ALPHARETTA 4 SSW5.63 in (143 mm)34.42N 84.32W
CAMP HILL 2NW5.53 in (140 mm)32.82N 85.65W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jul 19, 00:0018.5N 83.5W30 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Jul 19, 06:0018.8N 84.5W30 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Jul 19, 12:0019.4N 85.2W30 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Jul 19, 18:0020.3N 85.6W30 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Jul 20, 00:0021.3N 85.9W35 kt1009 mbTropical storm
Jul 20, 06:0022.3N 86.2W40 ktTropical storm
Jul 20, 12:0023.2N 86.4W40 ktTropical storm
Jul 20, 18:0024.1N 86.6W45 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 00:0025.0N 86.7W50 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 06:0025.8N 86.8W55 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 12:0026.6N 86.7W55 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 18:0027.5N 86.3W55 kt1007 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 00:0028.3N 85.9W50 kt1007 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 06:0029.1N 85.5W45 kt1007 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 10:00 landfall29.7N 85.3W40 kt1007 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 12:0030.0N 85.2W35 kt1007 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 18:0031.5N 85.3W25 ktTropical depression
Jul 23, 00:0033.4N 85.6W25 ktTropical depression
Jul 23, 06:0035.4N 86.1W20 ktTropical depression
Jul 23, 12:0037.5N 86.7W20 ktTropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 1970

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.