The 1977 season

Hurricane Babe (1977)

Hurricane Babe reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between September 3, 1977 and September 9, 1977, with a lowest pressure of 995 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Babe, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1977 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 3, 1977 to September 9, 1977
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
995 mb (29.38 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
1.7
Fastest the center moved
12 kt (14 mph)
Identifier
AL061977

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 1,193 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 10.99 inches (279 mm).

StationTotalPosition
LAFAYETTE 3SW10.99 in (279 mm)34.70N 85.28W
PINE GROVE FIRE TOWER10.70 in (272 mm)30.70N 90.75W
ACKERMAN9.48 in (241 mm)33.32N 89.17W
AMITE9.19 in (233 mm)30.73N 90.50W
LAKE TOXAWAY 2 SW8.99 in (228 mm)35.13N 82.93W
HAMMOND8.79 in (223 mm)30.53N 90.48W
LOUISVILLE7.87 in (200 mm)33.12N 89.05W
RINGGOLD 2 SE7.57 in (192 mm)34.90N 85.13W
CLINTON 5 SE7.51 in (191 mm)30.80N 90.97W
WAYNESBORO 2 W7.51 in (191 mm)31.68N 88.62W
KENTWOOD7.50 in (191 mm)30.93N 90.52W
CAESARS HEAD7.05 in (179 mm)35.12N 82.60W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 3, 06:0026.8N 86.3W25 kt1007 mbSubtropical depression
Sep 3, 12:0027.4N 87.3W30 kt1006 mbSubtropical depression
Sep 3, 18:0027.6N 88.5W35 kt1005 mbSubtropical storm
Sep 4, 00:0027.4N 89.7W35 ktSubtropical storm
Sep 4, 06:0026.6N 90.5W40 ktSubtropical storm
Sep 4, 12:0026.8N 91.7W45 kt1003 mbSubtropical storm
Sep 4, 18:0027.5N 91.7W50 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 00:0028.0N 91.6W60 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 06:0028.7N 91.4W65 kt995 mbHurricane
Sep 5, 12:0029.5N 91.2W65 kt998 mbHurricane
Sep 5, 18:0029.8N 91.6W50 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 00:0030.2N 91.3W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 6, 06:0030.6N 90.7W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 6, 12:0031.1N 90.0W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 6, 18:0031.7N 89.4W25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 7, 00:0032.4N 88.8W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 7, 06:0033.2N 88.0W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 7, 12:0033.8N 87.1W25 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Sep 7, 18:0034.3N 85.8W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Sep 8, 00:0034.5N 84.8W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Sep 8, 06:0034.6N 83.9W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 8, 12:0034.7N 82.6W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 8, 18:0034.8N 81.3W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 9, 00:0034.8N 80.2W25 kt1012 mbTropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 1977

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.