Hurricane Fern (1971)
Hurricane Fern reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between September 3, 1971 and September 13, 1971, with a lowest pressure of 978 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Fern, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1971 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- September 3, 1971 to September 13, 1971
- Peak strength
- Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 978 mb (28.88 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 6.1
- Fastest the center moved
- 7 kt (8 mph)
- Identifier
- AL111971
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.
Rainfall
The Weather Prediction Center attributes 848 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 26.00 inches (660 mm).
| Station | Total | Position |
|---|---|---|
| BEEVILLE 2 SSE | 26.00 in (660 mm) | 28.38N 97.72W |
| SKIDMORE 3 N | 25.80 in (655 mm) | 28.29N 97.81W |
| KAFFIE RANCH | 21.80 in (554 mm) | 27.08N 98.58W |
| PAPALOTE | 21.50 in (546 mm) | 28.17N 97.60W |
| BENAVIDES 3 NE | 20.57 in (522 mm) | 27.60N 98.42W |
| REFUGIO | 19.86 in (504 mm) | 28.30N 97.28W |
| MATHIS 3 NE | 19.71 in (501 mm) | 28.03N 97.87W |
| BEEVILLE CHASE NAAS | 19.06 in (484 mm) | 28.37N 97.67W |
| BEEVILLE 5 NE | 18.46 in (469 mm) | 28.45N 97.70W |
| SINTON | 14.66 in (372 mm) | 28.07N 97.58W |
| GOLIAD 1 SE | 14.25 in (362 mm) | 28.67N 97.40W |
| HEBBRONVILLE | 14.10 in (358 mm) | 27.32N 98.68W |
WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3, 12:00 | 27.5N 87.5W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 3, 18:00 | 27.7N 87.7W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 4, 00:00 | 28.0N 88.0W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 4, 06:00 | 28.2N 88.6W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 4, 12:00 | 28.6N 89.0W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 4, 18:00 | 29.0N 89.3W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 5, 00:00 | 29.5N 89.5W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 5, 06:00 | 30.1N 89.6W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 5, 12:00 | 30.7N 89.8W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 5, 18:00 | 30.6N 89.9W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 6, 00:00 | 30.3N 90.0W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 6, 06:00 | 29.9N 90.3W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 6, 12:00 | 29.5N 90.5W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 6, 18:00 | 29.0N 91.0W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 7, 00:00 | 28.6N 91.3W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 7, 06:00 | 28.1N 91.6W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 7, 12:00 | 27.7N 92.0W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 7, 18:00 | 27.3N 92.3W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 8, 00:00 | 26.9N 92.6W | 40 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 8, 06:00 | 26.6N 92.8W | 45 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 8, 12:00 | 26.4N 93.1W | 50 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 8, 18:00 | 26.3N 93.4W | 55 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 9, 00:00 | 26.4N 93.7W | 65 kt | 987 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 9, 06:00 | 26.7N 94.0W | 80 kt | 993 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 9, 12:00 | 27.1N 94.3W | 80 kt | 992 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 9, 18:00 | 27.5N 94.5W | 75 kt | 992 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 10, 00:00 | 28.0N 94.8W | 70 kt | 988 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 10, 06:00 | 28.5N 95.3W | 65 kt | 988 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 10, 12:00 | 28.5N 96.0W | 60 kt | 979 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 10, 18:00 | 28.3N 96.5W | 60 kt | 979 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 11, 00:00 | 28.0N 96.9W | 55 kt | 988 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 11, 06:00 | 27.7N 97.3W | 55 kt | 983 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 11, 12:00 | 27.5N 97.6W | 45 kt | 978 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 11, 18:00 | 27.3N 98.0W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 12, 00:00 | 27.1N 98.4W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 12, 06:00 | 27.1N 98.8W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 12, 12:00 | 27.0N 99.2W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 12, 18:00 | 26.9N 99.7W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 13, 00:00 | 26.9N 100.3W | 25 kt | Tropical depression |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1971
- Tropical Storm ArleneNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Unnamed hurricaneNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Hurricane BethNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Tropical Storm ChloeNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Tropical Storm DoriaNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Hurricane EdithNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Hurricane GingerNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Tropical Storm HeidiNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Hurricane Irene:OliviaNorth Atlantic · 1971 · $1.0 million
- Tropical Storm JaniceNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Tropical Storm KristyNorth Atlantic · 1971
- Tropical Storm LauraNorth Atlantic · 1971
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.