The 1974 season

Hurricane Fifi:Orlene (1974)

Hurricane Fifi:Orlene reached Category 2 in the North Atlantic between September 14, 1974 and September 24, 1974, with a lowest pressure of 971 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Fifi:Orlene, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
September 14, 1974 to September 24, 1974
Peak strength
Category 2, 95 kt (109 mph)
Lowest pressure
971 mb (28.67 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
12.2
Fastest the center moved
27 kt (31 mph)
Identifier
AL141974

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
Sep 14, 12:0015.3N 65.0W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 14, 18:0015.7N 66.5W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 15, 00:0016.0N 68.0W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 15, 06:0016.3N 69.5W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 15, 12:0016.5N 71.0W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 15, 18:0016.8N 72.5W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 16, 00:0017.0N 74.0W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 16, 06:0017.0N 75.5W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 16, 12:0017.0N 77.0W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 16, 18:0017.0N 77.8W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0017.0N 78.7W50 kt999 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0016.9N 79.5W60 kt993 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0016.6N 80.2W70 ktHurricane
Sep 17, 18:0016.4N 81.0W75 ktHurricane
Sep 18, 00:0016.3N 81.7W80 ktHurricane
Sep 18, 06:0016.3N 82.4W85 kt977 mbHurricane
Sep 18, 12:0016.3N 83.5W90 ktHurricane
Sep 18, 18:0016.3N 84.7W95 ktHurricane
Sep 19, 00:0016.2N 85.7W95 ktHurricane
Sep 19, 06:0016.1N 86.6W95 ktHurricane
Sep 19, 12:0016.1N 87.5W95 kt971 mbHurricane
Sep 19, 18:0016.3N 88.2W90 ktHurricane
Sep 20, 00:0016.7N 89.2W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 20, 06:0016.8N 90.5W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 20, 12:0016.9N 92.0W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 20, 18:0017.0N 93.5W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 21, 00:0017.2N 95.0W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 21, 06:0017.5N 97.1W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 21, 12:0017.5N 99.0W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 21, 18:0017.6N 99.8W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 22, 00:0017.5N 101.0W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 22, 06:0017.7N 102.5W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 22, 12:0017.7N 104.3W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 22, 18:0018.7N 105.2W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 23, 00:0019.4N 105.8W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 23, 06:0019.9N 106.3W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 23, 12:0020.6N 106.7W65 ktHurricane
Sep 23, 18:0022.2N 107.1W75 ktHurricane
Sep 24, 00:0024.0N 107.0W90 ktHurricane
Sep 24, 06:0025.5N 106.2W25 ktExtratropical
Sep 24, 12:0027.0N 104.5W25 ktExtratropical

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.