The 1974 season

Hurricane Becky (1974)

Hurricane Becky reached Category 3 in the North Atlantic between August 26, 1974 and September 2, 1974, with a lowest pressure of 977 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Becky, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1974 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
August 26, 1974 to September 2, 1974
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
977 mb (28.85 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 537 km (334 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
14.4
Fastest the center moved
36 kt (41 mph)
Identifier
AL091974

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
Aug 26, 12:0027.0N 69.0W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 26, 18:0027.4N 69.3W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 27, 00:0028.0N 69.5W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 27, 06:0029.0N 69.7W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 27, 12:0030.0N 69.8W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 27, 18:0030.8N 69.8W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 28, 00:0031.5N 69.5W30 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 28, 06:0032.1N 69.0W35 kt1007 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 12:0032.7N 68.5W50 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 18:0033.7N 67.8W65 kt1000 mbHurricane
Aug 29, 00:0034.5N 67.2W65 kt992 mbHurricane
Aug 29, 06:0035.3N 66.1W80 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 29, 12:0036.0N 65.0W85 kt987 mbHurricane
Aug 29, 18:0036.5N 63.9W90 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 00:0037.0N 62.8W95 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 06:0037.3N 61.8W100 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 12:0038.0N 61.0W100 kt977 mbHurricane
Aug 30, 18:0038.5N 60.2W100 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 00:0039.3N 59.2W100 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 06:0040.0N 58.0W100 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 12:0040.3N 56.0W100 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 18:0041.0N 54.5W95 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 00:0041.7N 52.7W90 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 06:0042.1N 50.4W85 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 12:0042.7N 47.8W80 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 18:0043.0N 44.5W70 ktHurricane
Sep 2, 00:0043.1N 40.8W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 2, 06:0043.0N 36.0W40 ktTropical storm

Other North Atlantic storms of 1974

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.