Hurricane Sam (2021)
Hurricane Sam reached Category 4 in the North Atlantic between September 22, 2021 and October 7, 2021, with a lowest pressure of 927 mb.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Sam, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2021 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
- September 22, 2021 to October 7, 2021
- Peak strength
- Category 4, 135 kt (155 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 927 mb (27.37 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 608 km (378 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 54.0
- Tropical-storm-force wind reached
- 420 nmi (778 km, 483 mi) from the center at its widest
- Hurricane-force wind reached
- 70 nmi (130 km, 81 mi) from the center at its widest
- Eyewall radius at its peak
- 5 nmi (9 km, 6 mi)
- Overall size
- 600 nmi (1111 km, 690 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
- Peak gust in the best track
- 160 kt (184 mph)
- Fastest the center moved
- 36 kt (41 mph)
- Identifier
- AL182021
Deaths and damage
The sources count different things and are not added together.
National Hurricane Center
0 direct deathsnone recorded in the United States
The season table in NHC’s report archive, final report. Direct deaths are those caused by the storm’s own wind, water or surge, anywhere in the world.
NOAA Storm Events
0 deaths (0 direct, 0 indirect)none recorded
What National Weather Service offices recorded county by county in 2 states and marine areas, in the United States only. Property and crop damage as each office estimated it, which is not a national loss total.
In the United States
NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.
- Deaths
- 0 (0 direct, 0 indirect)
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- none recorded
- Crop damage
- none recorded
- Events recorded
- 7 in 2 reports from 2 states and marine areas
State by state
| State or marine area | Deaths | Injuries | Damage | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| North Carolina | 0 | 0 | 1 |
What was recorded
3 flood, 3 debris flow, 1 rip current.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 22, 18:00 | 10.0N 33.1W | 30 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 23, 00:00 | 10.2N 34.4W | 30 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 23, 06:00 | 10.4N 36.0W | 35 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 23, 12:00 | 10.7N 37.6W | 45 kt | 1003 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 23, 18:00 | 10.9N 39.0W | 50 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 24, 00:00 | 11.1N 40.3W | 60 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 24, 06:00 | 11.4N 41.6W | 65 kt | 993 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 24, 12:00 | 11.6N 43.0W | 65 kt | 993 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 24, 18:00 | 11.9N 44.3W | 70 kt | 989 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 25, 00:00 | 12.3N 45.4W | 85 kt | 982 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 25, 06:00 | 12.6N 46.3W | 95 kt | 973 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 25, 12:00 | 12.8N 47.2W | 105 kt | 960 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 25, 18:00 | 13.1N 48.1W | 115 kt | 950 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 26, 00:00 | 13.4N 48.8W | 130 kt | 943 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 26, 06:00 | 13.6N 49.4W | 130 kt | 943 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 26, 12:00 | 13.8N 50.0W | 130 kt | 939 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 26, 18:00 | 14.1N 50.3W | 135 kt | 927 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 27, 00:00 | 14.5N 50.6W | 130 kt | 940 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 27, 06:00 | 15.0N 51.1W | 115 kt | 948 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 27, 12:00 | 15.4N 51.7W | 105 kt | 955 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 27, 18:00 | 15.9N 52.3W | 105 kt | 958 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 28, 00:00 | 16.5N 52.9W | 105 kt | 955 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 28, 06:00 | 16.9N 53.5W | 115 kt | 952 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 28, 12:00 | 17.3N 54.1W | 115 kt | 952 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 28, 18:00 | 17.7N 54.7W | 115 kt | 947 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 29, 00:00 | 18.1N 55.3W | 115 kt | 947 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 29, 06:00 | 18.6N 55.9W | 115 kt | 952 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 29, 12:00 | 19.1N 56.6W | 115 kt | 952 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 29, 18:00 | 19.7N 57.3W | 115 kt | 945 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 30, 00:00 | 20.3N 58.0W | 125 kt | 940 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 30, 06:00 | 21.0N 58.8W | 125 kt | 937 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 30, 12:00 | 22.0N 59.6W | 125 kt | 937 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 30, 18:00 | 23.0N 60.4W | 125 kt | 941 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 1, 00:00 | 24.3N 61.0W | 125 kt | 938 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 1, 06:00 | 25.8N 61.6W | 130 kt | 936 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 1, 12:00 | 27.4N 61.9W | 130 kt | 936 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 1, 18:00 | 29.2N 61.9W | 130 kt | 937 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 2, 00:00 | 30.8N 61.5W | 125 kt | 940 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 2, 06:00 | 32.1N 61.0W | 120 kt | 945 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 2, 12:00 | 33.4N 60.1W | 115 kt | 948 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 2, 18:00 | 34.7N 59.1W | 110 kt | 950 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 3, 00:00 | 35.8N 57.9W | 100 kt | 954 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 3, 06:00 | 36.7N 56.6W | 90 kt | 960 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 3, 12:00 | 37.3N 55.4W | 85 kt | 964 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 3, 18:00 | 38.0N 53.9W | 85 kt | 964 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 4, 00:00 | 38.7N 52.2W | 90 kt | 957 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 4, 06:00 | 39.9N 49.9W | 90 kt | 957 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 4, 12:00 | 41.4N 47.1W | 85 kt | 960 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 4, 18:00 | 43.8N 43.6W | 80 kt | 965 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 5, 00:00 | 46.5N 40.5W | 75 kt | 965 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 5, 06:00 | 49.4N 39.7W | 70 kt | 965 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 5, 12:00 | 52.2N 39.6W | 65 kt | 966 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 5, 18:00 | 50.6N 42.1W | 65 kt | 966 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 6, 00:00 | 49.9N 38.9W | 60 kt | 967 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 6, 06:00 | 50.5N 35.5W | 55 kt | 968 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 6, 12:00 | 51.5N 32.4W | 50 kt | 969 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 6, 18:00 | 53.1N 29.0W | 45 kt | 971 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 7, 00:00 | 55.2N 25.4W | 45 kt | 973 mb | Extratropical |
| Oct 7, 06:00 | 58.1N 22.3W | 40 kt | 976 mb | Extratropical |
Other North Atlantic storms of 2021
- Tropical Storm AnaNorth Atlantic · 2021
- Tropical Storm BillNorth Atlantic · 2021
- Tropical Storm ClaudetteNorth Atlantic · 2021 · 4 deaths · $375 million
- Tropical Storm DannyNorth Atlantic · 2021
- Hurricane ElsaNorth Atlantic · 2021 · 13 deaths · $1.2 billion
- Tropical Storm FredNorth Atlantic · 2021 · 6 deaths · $1.3 billion
- Hurricane GraceNorth Atlantic · 2021 · 16 deaths
- Hurricane HenriNorth Atlantic · 2021 · $700 million
- Hurricane IdaNorth Atlantic · 2021 · 55 deaths · $75 billion
- Tropical Storm KateNorth Atlantic · 2021
- Tropical Storm JulianNorth Atlantic · 2021
- Hurricane LarryNorth Atlantic · 2021 · 5 deaths
- Tropical Storm MindyNorth Atlantic · 2021
- Hurricane NicholasNorth Atlantic · 2021 · 2 deaths · $1.0 billion
- Tropical Storm OdetteNorth Atlantic · 2021
- Tropical Storm RoseNorth Atlantic · 2021
- Tropical Storm PeterNorth Atlantic · 2021
- Tropical Storm TeresaNorth Atlantic · 2021
- Tropical Storm VictorNorth Atlantic · 2021
- Tropical Storm WandaNorth Atlantic · 2021
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.