Hurricane Carmen (1974)
Hurricane Carmen reached Category 4 in the North Atlantic between August 29, 1974 and September 10, 1974, with a lowest pressure of 928 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Carmen, 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.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- August 29, 1974 to September 10, 1974
- Peak strength
- Category 4, 130 kt (150 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 928 mb (27.40 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 25.6
- Fastest the center moved
- 24 kt (28 mph)
- Identifier
- AL101974
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 1,373 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 12.00 inches (305 mm).
| Station | Total | Position |
|---|---|---|
| ATMORE | 12.00 in (305 mm) | 31.02N 87.52W |
| FRISCO CITY 3 SSW | 10.61 in (269 mm) | 31.38N 87.42W |
| WHATLEY | 9.40 in (239 mm) | 31.65N 87.72W |
| MONTICELLO 5 SE | 8.39 in (213 mm) | 30.57N 83.87W |
| CLAIBORNE L & D | 8.00 in (203 mm) | 31.62N 87.55W |
| EVERGREEN | 7.90 in (201 mm) | 31.45N 86.95W |
| STANDARD | 7.83 in (199 mm) | 30.53N 89.37W |
| MOBILE REGIONAL AP | 7.61 in (193 mm) | 30.68N 88.25W |
| MC HENRY 5 ESE | 7.45 in (189 mm) | 30.68N 89.07W |
| ST MARKS 5 SSE | 7.42 in (188 mm) | 30.10N 84.17W |
| THOMASVILLE | 7.32 in (186 mm) | 31.53N 87.88W |
| WIGGINS | 7.27 in (185 mm) | 30.87N 89.13W |
WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 29, 06:00 | 16.8N 55.8W | 30 kt | 1011 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 29, 12:00 | 16.4N 58.0W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 29, 18:00 | 16.5N 60.3W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 30, 00:00 | 16.6N 62.7W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 30, 06:00 | 16.8N 65.0W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 30, 12:00 | 17.0N 67.4W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 30, 18:00 | 17.0N 69.9W | 40 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 31, 00:00 | 17.0N 72.2W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 31, 06:00 | 17.0N 74.2W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 31, 12:00 | 17.0N 76.0W | 65 kt | 988 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 31, 18:00 | 17.2N 77.9W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 1, 00:00 | 17.3N 79.8W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 1, 06:00 | 17.5N 81.5W | 85 kt | 972 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 1, 12:00 | 17.7N 83.2W | 105 kt | 960 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 1, 18:00 | 17.8N 84.7W | 115 kt | 947 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 2, 00:00 | 18.0N 85.9W | 125 kt | 933 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 2, 06:00 | 18.4N 86.8W | 130 kt | 928 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 2, 12:00 | 18.6N 87.9W | 120 kt | 956 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 2, 18:00 | 18.8N 88.8W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 3, 00:00 | 19.1N 89.3W | 60 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 3, 06:00 | 19.3N 89.7W | 60 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 3, 12:00 | 19.6N 90.2W | 60 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 3, 18:00 | 19.9N 90.4W | 60 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 4, 00:00 | 20.0N 90.7W | 55 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 4, 06:00 | 20.1N 90.8W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 4, 12:00 | 20.3N 91.0W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 4, 18:00 | 20.5N 91.0W | 55 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 5, 00:00 | 20.7N 90.9W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 5, 06:00 | 20.9N 90.9W | 55 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 5, 12:00 | 21.2N 90.8W | 65 kt | 985 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 5, 18:00 | 21.5N 90.7W | 65 kt | 984 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 6, 00:00 | 21.9N 90.5W | 65 kt | 983 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 6, 06:00 | 22.4N 90.5W | 70 kt | 971 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 6, 12:00 | 22.9N 90.4W | 80 kt | 969 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 6, 18:00 | 23.7N 90.4W | 95 kt | 968 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 7, 00:00 | 24.6N 90.3W | 100 kt | 967 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 7, 06:00 | 25.7N 90.3W | 105 kt | 959 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 7, 12:00 | 26.8N 90.3W | 110 kt | 950 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 7, 18:00 | 27.8N 90.4W | 115 kt | 944 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 8, 00:00 | 28.7N 90.8W | 130 kt | 937 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 8, 06:00 | 29.4N 91.3W | 105 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 8, 12:00 | 30.0N 92.1W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 8, 18:00 | 30.5N 92.6W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 9, 00:00 | 30.8N 93.6W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 9, 06:00 | 30.9N 94.4W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 9, 12:00 | 31.0N 95.1W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 9, 18:00 | 31.1N 95.6W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 10, 00:00 | 31.2N 96.3W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 10, 06:00 | 31.3N 96.7W | 25 kt | Tropical depression |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Tropical Storm AlmaNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Hurricane BeckyNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Tropical Storm DollyNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Tropical Storm ElaineNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Hurricane Fifi:OrleneNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Hurricane GertrudeNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 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.