The 1973 season

Tropical Storm Gilda (1973)

Tropical Storm Gilda peaked at 60 kt in the North Atlantic between October 16, 1973 and October 30, 1973, with a lowest pressure of 968 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Gilda, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1973 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
October 16, 1973 to October 30, 1973
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 60 kt (69 mph)
Lowest pressure
968 mb (28.59 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
4.2
Fastest the center moved
44 kt (51 mph)
Identifier
AL161973

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)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 16, 06:0016.3N 82.0W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Oct 16, 12:0016.9N 81.9W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 16, 18:0017.6N 81.8W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 17, 00:0018.1N 81.6W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 17, 06:0018.4N 81.1W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Oct 17, 12:0018.8N 80.7W30 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Oct 17, 18:0019.1N 80.3W30 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Oct 18, 00:0019.5N 79.9W40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 06:0020.1N 79.7W45 ktTropical storm
Oct 18, 12:0020.7N 79.6W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 18, 18:0021.3N 79.3W60 ktTropical storm
Oct 19, 00:0022.0N 79.0W50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 06:0022.6N 78.9W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 19, 12:0023.0N 78.5W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 19, 18:0023.3N 78.0W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 20, 00:0023.6N 77.5W50 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 06:0024.0N 76.8W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 20, 12:0024.4N 76.3W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 20, 18:0024.8N 76.0W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 21, 00:0025.1N 75.9W45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 06:0025.3N 75.8W45 ktTropical storm
Oct 21, 12:0025.4N 75.8W45 ktTropical storm
Oct 21, 18:0025.5N 75.8W35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 00:0025.6N 75.7W35 ktTropical storm
Oct 22, 06:0025.6N 75.6W45 ktTropical storm
Oct 22, 12:0025.6N 75.7W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 22, 18:0025.6N 75.7W30 kt1003 mbTropical depression
Oct 23, 00:0025.6N 75.7W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 23, 06:0025.6N 75.7W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 23, 12:0025.6N 75.7W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 23, 18:0025.7N 75.3W30 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Oct 24, 00:0026.0N 74.5W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 24, 06:0027.2N 72.6W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 24, 12:0028.6N 71.7W35 kt1001 mbSubtropical storm
Oct 24, 18:0029.9N 71.4W40 kt999 mbSubtropical storm
Oct 25, 00:0030.8N 71.2W45 kt996 mbSubtropical storm
Oct 25, 06:0031.7N 71.0W50 ktSubtropical storm
Oct 25, 12:0032.5N 70.9W60 ktSubtropical storm
Oct 25, 18:0033.2N 70.8W60 ktSubtropical storm
Oct 26, 00:0034.1N 70.4W60 kt985 mbSubtropical storm
Oct 26, 06:0034.8N 69.8W60 ktSubtropical storm
Oct 26, 12:0035.5N 69.0W60 ktSubtropical storm
Oct 26, 18:0036.2N 67.8W60 ktSubtropical storm
Oct 27, 00:0036.9N 65.9W55 kt984 mbSubtropical storm
Oct 27, 06:0038.8N 63.2W55 ktSubtropical storm
Oct 27, 12:0041.2N 60.8W55 ktSubtropical storm
Oct 27, 18:0043.7N 58.6W55 kt980 mbExtratropical
Oct 28, 00:0045.4N 55.2W55 kt974 mbExtratropical
Oct 28, 06:0047.5N 51.5W55 kt968 mbExtratropical
Oct 28, 12:0051.2N 48.1W55 ktExtratropical
Oct 28, 18:0054.9N 44.9W50 ktExtratropical
Oct 29, 00:0057.5N 42.7W45 ktExtratropical
Oct 29, 06:0059.6N 41.2W40 ktExtratropical
Oct 29, 12:0060.8N 40.6W40 kt970 mbExtratropical
Oct 29, 18:0061.4N 40.5W35 ktExtratropical
Oct 30, 00:0061.8N 40.4W30 ktExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1973

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.