The 1971 season

Tropical Storm Heidi (1971)

Tropical Storm Heidi peaked at 55 kt in the North Atlantic between September 11, 1971 and September 15, 1971, with a lowest pressure of 996 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Heidi, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
September 11, 1971 to September 15, 1971
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 55 kt (63 mph)
Lowest pressure
996 mb (29.41 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
2.4
Fastest the center moved
24 kt (28 mph)
Identifier
AL171971

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 118 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 2.43 inches (62 mm).

StationTotalPosition
MACHIAS2.43 in (62 mm)44.72N 67.45W
PATTEN 1 S1.95 in (50 mm)45.98N 68.45W
MILLINOCKET1.91 in (49 mm)45.65N 68.70W
BRIDGTON 3 NW1.88 in (48 mm)44.08N 70.73W
EAST DOVER1.88 in (48 mm)45.18N 69.17W
ORONO1.81 in (46 mm)44.90N 68.67W
WEST ENFIELD1.79 in (45 mm)45.25N 68.65W
MILLINOCKET MUNICIPAL AP1.74 in (44 mm)45.65N 68.68W
OLD TOWN FAA AIRPORT1.70 in (43 mm)44.95N 68.67W
EAST HIRAM1.67 in (42 mm)43.88N 70.75W
CENTER HARBOR1.66 in (42 mm)43.72N 71.47W
SPRINGFIELD1.61 in (41 mm)45.40N 68.17W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 11, 00:0027.1N 72.0W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 11, 06:0027.2N 72.3W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 11, 12:0027.5N 72.8W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 11, 18:0027.9N 73.3W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 12, 00:0028.6N 73.8W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 12, 06:0029.2N 74.0W40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 12:0030.0N 73.9W45 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 18:0030.8N 73.5W45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 00:0031.7N 72.8W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 13, 06:0032.7N 72.0W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 13, 12:0033.8N 71.3W45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 18:0035.3N 70.3W50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 00:0037.1N 69.9W55 ktTropical storm
Sep 14, 06:0039.4N 69.3W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 14, 12:0041.6N 68.8W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 14, 18:0043.7N 68.7W40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 00:0045.5N 69.0W25 kt1002 mbTropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 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.