HISTORICAL CLIMATOLOGY SERIES 6-2

TROPICAL CYCLONES OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN, 1851 – 2006

(with 2007 and 2008 track maps included)

 Colin J. McAdie, Christopher W. Landsea, Charles J. Neumann1

,

Joan E. David, and Eric S. Blake

National Hurricane Center

Gregory R. Hammer

National Climatic Data Center

Asheville, NC

(Sixth revision - July 2009)

Fifth Revision - October, 1999

Fourth Revision - November, 1993

Third Revision - September, 1987

Second Revision - July, 1985

First Revision - July, 1981

Original Publication - June, 1978

Prepared by the National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC, in cooperation

with the National Hurricane Center, Miami, FL

 1 Retired
ii

 1. Introduction.................................................................................................................................... 

 2. Scope.............................................................................................................................................. 

 3. Characteristics of Tropical Cyclones............................................................................................. 

 4. Classifications of Atlantic Tropical Cyclones................................................................................ 

 4.1 Tropical Cyclones........................................................................................................ 

 4.2 Extratropical Cyclones................................................................................................. 

 4.3 Subtropical Cyclones................................................................................................... 

 4.4 Summary of Classification Criteria............................................................................. 

 5. Data Sources.................................................................................................................................. 

 5.1 Data Sources 1851-1870............................................................................................. 

 5.2 Data Sources 1871-1963.............................................................................................. 

 5.3 Additional Data Sources 1871-1963............................................................................ 

 5.4 Data Sources 1964-2006.............................................................................................. 

 6. Accuracy of Tracks and Intensity Classifications..........................................................................

 7. North Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Tracks........................................................................................

 7.1 Chart Series A..............................................................................................................

 7.2 Chart Series B..............................................................................................................

 8. Frequency of North Atlantic Tropical Cyclones............................................................................

 8.1 Monthly and Annual Frequencies................................................................................

 8.2 Daily Frequencies........................................................................................................

 8.3 Areas of Formation......................................................................................................

 8.4 Tropical Cyclones Affecting the United States............................................................

 8.5 Coastal Variation of U.S. Tropical Cyclone Threat.....................................................

 8.6 Hurricane Damage Potential........................................................................................

 9. Acknowledgments and other Comments.......................................................................................

10. References.....................................................................................................................................

 Appendix A (Chart Series A).............................................................................................

 Appendix B (Chart Series B).............................................................................................

11. Endnote.......................................................................................................................................... 

Page

Contents

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1

Tropical Cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean, 1851-2006

Over the 156-year period 1851 through 2006, a total of 

1,370 tropical cyclones reaching at least tropical storm strength (including subtropical storms) have been documented over the North 

Atlantic area. The formation of these storms, and possible intensification into mature hurricanes, takes place over warm tropical and 

subtropical waters. Eventual dissipation or modification, averaging 

seven to eight days later, typically occurs over the colder waters of 

the North Atlantic, or when the storms move over land and away 

from the sustaining marine environment.

The geographical areas influenced by tropical cyclones 

are often referred to as tropical cyclone basins. Figure 1 shows 

the areal extent of the Atlantic tropical cyclone basin; it includes 

much of the North Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of 

Mexico and a substantial portion of the adjacent coastal area. From 

the global perspective, the Atlantic tropical cyclone basin is one of 

seven; others in the Northern Hemisphere are the eastern North Pacific, the western North Pacific and the northern Indian Ocean. The 

Southern Hemisphere basins are the southwestern Indian Ocean, 

the Australia/southeastern Indian Ocean and the Australia/SW Pacific. Tropical cyclones have been observed in the South Atlantic 

(McAdie and Rappaport 1991; Dias 2006) but are extremely rare 

events. The eastern portion of the South Pacific is virtually devoid 

of tropical cyclones. On rare occasions, tropical cyclones traverse 

from one basin to an adjacent basin within a given hemisphere. 

In the Northern Hemisphere, an example would be North Atlantic Hurricane Cesar (1996) which moved westward across Central 

America as a weak system and then became Hurricane Douglas 

over the eastern North Pacific.

Tropical cyclone climatologies are based upon long-term 

records of tropical cyclone occurrence and are the basis for much 

of the work in this field. A review of the construction and use of 

these climatologies is provided by Murnane and Liu (2004). 

Because of the destructive potential of hurricanes, interest 

in these systems has always been great. Numerous publications, 

technical and non-technical, describe tropical cyclone climate on 

various scales. Studies by Crutcher and Quayle (1974) and by Neumann and Hill (1976) and Neumann (1993) contain charts describing tropical cyclone frequency and motion characteristics over the 

various global basins. Gray (1968, 1975) presents an instructive and 

more theoretical treatment of global tropical cyclone climatology, 

including a discussion of the conditions associated with tropical 

cyclone development. Many studies on individual basins (Elsner 

and Kara 1999; Blake et al. 2008) or even portions of basins such 

as for Florida alone (Barnes 1998; Schwartz 2007) can be found in 

most meteorological libraries.

Tropical cyclones have always been of concern to shipping 

and, through mariner reports, may be reasonably well-documented 

over remote oceanic areas, even in the 19th century and earlier. 

Ludlum (1963) for example, presents a history of Atlantic tropical 

cyclones dating back to the time of the Columbus explorations.

Collation and dissemination of global tropical cyclone data 

is the responsibility of the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), 

Asheville, NC. Data are obtained in an agreed upon format from 

World Meteorological Organization (WMO) designated Regional 

Specialized Meteorological Centers (RSMC), and other global meteorological services. In the United States, the National Hurricane 

Center (NHC) in Miami, Florida, serves as an RSMC, with responsibility for both the North Atlantic and eastern North Pacific 

basins. 

1. INTRODUCTION
2

Figure 1. Tracks of the 1370 known North Atlantic tropical cyclones reaching at least tropical storm (see Table 1) intensity 

over the 156-year period 1851-2006.
3

2. SCOPE

Together with related statistical summaries, this study presents annual plots of tropical cyclone tracks for the period 1851-2006 

for systems reaching at least tropical storm strength. A detailed 

analysis of individual tracks is not attempted. This is a departure 

from Cry (1965) who included a considerable amount of track analysis and interpretation. The omission was prompted by the desire 

to keep the size of the book from becoming excessive, especially 

with the addition of many decades of data. 

Those familiar with previous editions of this publication 

will note the addition of track charts and data for the years 1851-

1870, and the significant revision of data from 1871-1920. The contribution of José Fernández-Partagás to this work (through 1910) 

cannot be understated. His careful reconstruction of tropical cyclone tracks from disparate written accounts (Fernández-Partagás 

and Diaz 1995a, 1995b, 1996a, 1996b, 1997, 1999) provided the 

foundation for the addition of these decades of data. The mechanism for the evaluation and incorporation of this new data and a 

number of other changes is an ongoing reanalysis project described 

in Landsea et al. (2004, 2008). For current information on this project and additional background, see http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/

data_sub/re_anal.html. It is important to note that the reanalysis 

is an ongoing project. This edition captures changes only through 

1920. 

Readers are also referred to other publications that deal 

specifically with the analysis of Atlantic tropical cyclones. These 

include NOAA publications prepared for the Federal Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Myers 1975; 

Overland 1975; Ho et al. 1987) and studies to satisfy the needs of 

the National Hurricane Center (Hope and Neumann 1971; Rappaport and Fernández-Partagás 1995; Hebert and McAdie 1997; Jarrell et al. 1992; Blake et al. 2007). The National Climatic Data Center contributed to tropical cyclone studies to satisfy the needs of the 

U.S. Navy (Crutcher and Quinlan 1971a-c; Crutcher and Qualye 

1974). The NHC web site http://www.nhc.noaa.gov contains a 

large amount of information on current and historical tropical cyclone activity. Information found there can be used to update this 

text until such time as additional editions are issued. Also available 

on the NHC web site are the digitized tracks of all Atlantic tropical 

cyclones since 1851. Charts presented in Chart Series A and B are 

based on these data, known formally as HURDAT (Jarvinen et al. 

1984) but more often referred to simply as the “best-track” file. 

The NHC annually receives hundreds of requests for tropical cyclone related information from both official and non-official 

sources. One of the goals of this publication is to provide readily 

available, correct, and consistent answers to some of these queries. 

A knowledge of climatology is important in the forecast process 

and this publication also provides Hurricane Specialists at the NHC 

with a reliable source of reference material on Atlantic tropical cyclones.

For the Atlantic basin, tropical cyclone tracks have been 

published at irregular intervals. U.S. Weather Bureau Technical Paper 36 (Cry et al. 1959) provided tracks and associated statistics for 

the years 1886 to 1958. Five years later, Cry (1965) extended the 

tracks back through 1871, forward through 1963, and extended the 

statistical analysis. For a number of years, that publication was the 

standard reference for Atlantic tropical cyclone activity. Cry’s work 

remains the nucleus of this, the sixth, revision.
4

3. CHARACTERISTICS OF TROPICAL CYCLONES

Broadly speaking, any closed circulation in which the winds 

rotate counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere or clockwise 

in the Southern Hemisphere, is called a cyclone. The term “tropical 

cyclone” refers to such a circulation that develops over tropical or 

subtropical waters. A more detailed definition will be given in Section 4.1. 

It is somewhat beyond the scope of this study to discuss 

details of tropical cyclone characteristics and structure. A few 

comments are necessary, however, for proper interpretation of the 

material presented. The reader is referred to Miller (1967) or Anthes 

(1982) for further information. Texts by Riehl (1979) and Palmen 

and Newton (1969) devote chapters to tropical cyclones, and texts 

by Dunn and Miller (1960), Simpson and Riehl (1981), Pielke and 

Pielke (1997), and Emanuel (2005) are devoted entirely to that 

topic. Certain specialized topics, such as forecasting of tropical 

cyclone motion and intensity are discussed by Simpson (1973b), 

the American Meteorological Society (1986, 1993), Sheets (1990), 

Holland (1993), and Rappaport et al. (2009).

Cyclones which form outside the tropics (extratropical cyclones) have structure, energetics, and appearance when viewed 

from weather satellites or radar that are different from tropical cyclones. They derive their energy primarily from large-scale horizontal contrasts of temperature and are typically associated with 

cold and warm fronts.

Tropical cyclones, with their energy derived from the latent 

heat of condensation of water vapor, are generally smaller in extent 

than extratropical cyclones and typically range from 100 to 600 

nautical miles in diameter at maturity. Winds normally increase 

radially inward toward the center of the tropical cyclone with sustained speeds sometimes exceeding 100 knots near the center. Occasionally, sustained winds exceeding 140 knots, with higher gusts, 

may occur in well-developed systems. Apart from the wind, other 

destructive features of tropical cyclones include torrential rains 

over a large area and coastal storm tides of 15 to 30 feet above normal in extreme cases. Indeed, with some exceptions such as Hurricane Andrew (1992) in south Florida, coastal inundation from the 

storm surge has been primarily responsible for deaths and damage 

from these storms in the United States. 

A unique feature of tropical cyclones is the central “eye,” 

about which the winds rotate counterclockwise in the Northern 

Hemisphere (clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere) and whose 

diameter averages some 10 to 30 miles across. This small central 

region of the storm is typically associated with light winds, minimum cloud cover and minimum sea-level pressure; the latter being 

much less than over the larger area encompassing the entire storm 

circulation (Dunn and Miller 1960; Anthes 1982). The eye (note 

the distinct eye of Hurricane Wilma on the cover illustration) provides a convenient visual and physical entity that can be tracked 

4. CLASSIFICATIONS OF ATLANTIC TROPICAL CYCLONES

In the course of their life cycle, tropical cyclones, like other 

atmospheric weather systems, pass through stages of genesis, intensification, maturity, and decay or modification. Satellite imagery has confirmed that most North Atlantic tropical cyclones classically develop from tropical waves that regularly move westward 

off the coast of Africa near 15oN latitude. The relationship between 

these waves and Atlantic tropical cyclones has been studied by a 

number of researchers, one of the earliest being Riehl (1945). Later, 

Carlson (1969) presented case histories, while Shapiro (1977) discussed theoretical aspects of the transformation of certain waves 

into tropical cyclones. Avila and Clark (1988) found that intense 

hurricanes tend to develop from tropical waves. In other basins, atmospheric conditions which initiate tropical cyclones may be quite 

different.
5

During the 1967 Atlantic hurricane season, Simpson et al. 

(1968) initiated an annual “census” of African disturbances (Agee 

1972) and other features associated with tropical cyclone genesis. A 

more recent continuation of this annual census (Pasch et al. 1998) 

includes long-term averages of these data where it can be noted 

that, May through November, an average of 61 waves move off 

the African coast, or about one wave every three days. Interannual 

variability of these waves is discussed in Thorncroft and Hodges 

(2001).

Satellite observations over the last several decades also 

have shown that tropical cyclones may develop in association with 

upper-level cold low-pressure areas that have initial “cold-core” 

circulations as opposed to the “warm-core” circulations of tropical 

cyclones. Beginning in the late 1960’s, these latter systems were 

designated as “subtropical cyclones” (Hebert 1973) during the 

period in which they exhibited both cold- and warm-core characteristics. Finally, many tropical cyclones, after moving out of the 

tropical environment, may lose their tropical characteristics and 

become “extratropical.” While the primary purpose of this publication is to discuss tropical systems, it is necessary, for continuity, to 

discuss subtropical and extratropical cyclones as well.

4.1 Tropical Cyclones

Tropical cyclones are technically defined (OCFM 2007) 

as warm-core, nonfrontal, low pressure synoptic-scale1

 systems 

that develop over tropical or subtropical waters and have a closed 

surface circulation and organized deep convection about a welldefined center. Further classification depends upon the wind speed 

near the center of the system. The terms, “tropical depression,” 

“tropical storm,” or “hurricane” are assigned depending whether 

sustained winds are respectively, <34 knots, 34 to <64 knots or 

≥64 knots. More complete definitions are given in Table 1. Tropi1

Synoptic-scale refers to large-scale weather systems as distinguished from local systems 

such as thunderstorms.

cal cyclones are not named unless they reach at least tropical storm 

strength.

The term “sustained wind,” as used in the United States, refers to the near-surface (10-meter) wind associated with the tropical 

cyclone circulation averaged over 1-minute. Shorter period gusts 

or lulls in the wind, perhaps only a few seconds duration, can be 

much higher or lower than the sustained wind. In other countries, 

the averaging period defining a sustained wind can be longer than 

1-minute.

The wind criteria separating the various stages of tropical 

cyclones are rather rigidly defined, but the ability to measure the 

winds with the precision implied by the definitions seldom exists. 

The maximum wind speed must often be inferred in post-analysis by indirect evidence such as storm surge, damage, pressure, 

remotely-sensed winds, or the analysis of satellite imagery (Dvorak 1984; Velden et al. 2006). In practice, a maximum sustained 

wind is assigned at 6-hourly intervals by the responsible analyst 

after considering all available evidence. The uncertainties in the 

resulting estimate of maximum wind must be kept in mind when 

examining the intensity information given in Chart Series A and 

elsewhere.

4.2 Extratropical Cyclones

During the final stages of their life cycle, tropical cyclones 

are often classified as extratropical. This indicates that modification 

of the tropical circulation has started by movement of the system 

into a non-tropical environment. The transformation is a gradual 

process: the size of the circulation usually expands, the speed of the 

maximum wind usually decreases, and the distribution of winds, 

rainfall, and temperatures around the center becomes increasingly asymmetric. While these characteristic features develop, some 

tropical features, such as a small area of strong, often hurricane 

force, winds near the center, the remnants of an eye, and extremely 
6

heavy rainfall may be retained for a considerable time. The 1938 

New England storm (number 4, 1938), described in physical terms 

by Pierce (1939) and in narrative form by Allen (1976), is a good 

example of a storm that was beginning to transition into an extratropical system at the time of landfall, but that still maintained 

hurricane-like characteristics and caused catastrophic damage.

An operational tool known as Cyclone Phase Space Analysis (Hart 2003) was developed to help to quantify the thermodynamical differences between tropical, subtropical and extratropical 

cyclones.

There are no wind speed criteria associated with the term 

extratropical and such systems may indeed have hurricane force 

winds. Usually, when storms move out of the tropics, wind speeds 

near the center of a storm gradually subside. In some cases, however, reintensification of the system may occur when mechanisms 

conducive to extratropical development predominate.

4.3 Subtropical Cyclones

Until the late 1960’s, the terms tropical (warm-core) and 

extratropical (cold-core), as described in sections 4.1 and 4.2, were 

exclusively used to categorize a cyclone. Although it was often suspected that a given storm was a “hybrid” in that it exhibited both 

tropical and extratropical characteristics, the lack of sufficient observational evidence or official sanction precluded the use of other 

terminology. The problem often led to some storms not being initially included in the annual summaries. Spiegler (1972), Ferguson 

(1973), and Simpson (1973a) give additional information on this 

topic.

By 1968, availability of continuous satellite imagery and 

other observational evidence confirmed the existence of this intermediate class of storm with both tropical (warm-core) and extratropical (cold-core) characteristics. The Monthly Weather Review’s 

annual review for the 1970 and 1971 hurricane seasons (Simpson 

and Pelissier 1971; Simpson and Hope 1972) call attention to this 

nomenclature problem. By 1972, however, the term “subtropical” 

was adopted as official terminology and the annual summary article for that season includes the tracks of the subtropical stages 

(if any) of tropical systems. Satellite imagery and other observational evidence enabled Hebert and Poteat (1975) to re-examine 

official tracks for the 1968-1971 seasons and to identify subtropical 

portions of the tropical cyclones for those years. The re-evaluation 

included the addition of the storms suggested earlier by Spiegler 

(1971).

Table 1. Classification criteria for tropical, subtropical, and 

extratropical cyclones.
7

A subtropical cyclone is defined (OFCM 2007) as a nonfrontal low pressure system that develops over tropical or subtropical waters and may have an initial non-tropical circulation but in 

which some elements of tropical cyclone cloud structure are present. The maximum winds are typically farther away from the center 

than in purely tropical systems, perhaps 100 n mi or more (OFCM 

2007). Many of these eventually develop into tropical (warm-core) 

systems, but others remain as subtropical. On rare occasions, such 

as storm 8 of 1973, subtropical systems have evolved from tropical 

systems. 

Depending on wind speed, two classes of subtropical cyclones are recognized: subtropical depressions and subtropical 

storms. The former have maximum sustained winds < 34 knots 

while the latter have maximum winds exceeding that speed. More 

complete definitions are given in Table 1. There is no upper wind 

limit associated with subtropical storms as there is with tropical 

storms. Experience has shown that when and if surface winds in 

subtropical storms reach at least 64 knots, the system typically has 

taken on sufficient tropical characteristics to be designated a hurricane (see, for example, storm 3, 1972). In rare cases, such systems 

do attain hurricane force winds without associated tropical conditions. In this case, the term “subtropical” is retained. An example 

of such an occurrence is storm 6, 1968, having had hurricane force 

winds September 20 and 21.

4.4 Summary of Classification Criteria

A summary of the various storm classification criteria and 

years over which each is applicable are given in Table 1. Although 

determining storm intensity is clearly more difficult for occurrences in the nineteenth century and earlier, this should not be interpreted as a complete lack of knowledge on these early storms. 

Indeed, portions of many of these tracks were well-documented if 

they were associated with disasters either ashore or at sea. For example, the hurricane of August, 1873 (number 2) which destroyed 

over 1,200 vessels, and the hurricane of August, 1893 (number 6) 

which inundated the islands off the coast of Georgia and South 

Carolina, resulting in large loss of life and property, are described 

by Garriott (1900) and others. Persons seeking specific information 

on these, and on other hurricane events occurring in later years, 

should consult the references given in Section 10.

The reanalysis project (Landsea et al. 2004, 2008) has enabled us to identify the tropical depression phase somewhat earlier 

than in previous editions of this volume. The dissipating phase (at 

least for those systems decaying over land) is now identified beginning in 1871, while the somewhat more difficult to determine 

initial development stage is now identified beginning in 1886. As 

previously noted, classification of a subtropical phase (if present) 

became possible in the satellite era, and begins in 1968.

5. DATA SOURCES

For the period 1871 through 1963, the primary reference for 

the storm tracks and associated intensity criteria was Cry (1965). 

Although the main purpose of this and of previous editions of 

this volume was to update the track charts, some of these original charts have been modified based on additional information that 

has come to the attention of the authors. Specific details on these 

modifications are given later in this section. As noted, the present revision extends the track charts back to 1851 in conjunction 

with the reanalysis project (Landsea et al. 2004, 2008) and forward 

through the 2006 season. Reanalyzed track charts are available 

only through 1920 at the time of publication. 

5.1 Data Sources 1851-1870 

For these additional decades new to this edition, the work 

of Partagás (Fernández-Partagás and Diaz 1995a, 1995b, 1996a, 
8

1996b, 1997, 1999) is the principal reference. The ship reports appearing in period newspapers are a rich source of information, 

and were heavily mined by Partagás. Other important sources are 

Tannehill (1956), Dunn and Miller (1960), Ludlum (1963), and Ho 

et al. (1987). These sources are summarized in full in Landsea et 

al. (2004).

5.2 Data Sources 1871-1963 

This section, with references updated, is quoted directly 

from Cry’s (1965) original study. 

“The history of hurricanes extends back to the early voyages of discovery in the late fifteenth century. These early records 

are fragmentary and incomplete. One of the earliest compilations 

of hurricane tracks (1804-1853) was prepared by Redfield (1846, 

1854). Millas (1962) more recently attempted to document many 

of the early storms. Ludlum (1963) has also prepared a hurricane 

chronology extending through 1870.”

“Information from many sources has been used to define the tracks of the tropical cyclones presented in this text. U.S. 

Weather Bureau Technical Paper 36 (Cry et al. 1959) provided the 

nucleus. The primary continuing reference, the Monthly Weather 

Review, first appeared in June 1872 and has been published without 

interruption to the present, although changes in format, emphasis, 

and content have been numerous. Monthly reports on North Atlantic tropical cyclone activity and tracks have been included in most 

volumes and, since 1922, annual summary articles have also appeared in most years. Numerous papers discussing various aspects 

of tropical cyclones or complete details of specific storms, have 

been published in the Review throughout the years. Summaries of 

each tropical cyclone season 1950-1980 are found in Climatological 

Data National Summary. More recently, tropical cyclone summaries have appeared in Storm Data; details of hurricanes affecting 

the United States are given there and in the appropriate monthly 

issues of Climatological Data for individual states.”

“The first comprehensive climatological analyses of the 

early series of Signal Service synoptic weather maps were made 

between 1874 and 1889 by Professor Elias Loomis of Yale. Of his 

many papers (Loomis 1874-1889), one was devoted to North Atlantic tropical cyclone activity during the years 1871 through 1880.”

“Several summaries containing complete series of tropical 

cyclone tracks and information on various storm features have been 

published periodically since the turn of the century. In preparing 

this paper, we have relied heavily on the works of Garriott (1900), 

which contain tracks for the years 1878-1900; Fassig (1913) 1876-

1911; Mitchell (1924, 1932) 1887-1932; Cline (1926) 1900-1924 and 

Tannehill (1956) 1901-1955. Additional unpublished chronologies 

of tropical cyclone tracks have been available, including the charts 

and notes of Tingley (undated) for 1871-1930; charts probably prepared by Mitchell (undated) 1898-1920; and track charts centered 

on the Gulf of Mexico prepared at the U.S. Weather Bureau Office, 

New Orleans, Louisiana (unpublished) 1875-1956.”

“In addition to these primary sources containing relatively 

long series of tracks, the following less extensive sources have been 

used: Alexander (1902); Bonnelly (1959); Bowie (1922); Contreas 

Arias (1959); Deutsche Seewarte (1899); Elwar (1907); Fischer 

(1908); Gray (1933); Hall (1917); Newnham (1922); Salivia (1950); 

Sarasola (1928); Tannehill (1934); and Viñes (1898). Comprehensive texts by various authors (Anthes 1982; Dunn 1951; Pielke and 

Pielke 1997; Simpson and Riehl 1981) contain complete discussions 

of various aspects of tropical cyclones, including a continuation of 

Tannehill’s chronology in Dunn and Miller (1960).”

5.3 Additional Data Sources 1871-1963

In connection with its research and operational commitments, the National Hurricane Center maintains and continuously updates a database containing Atlantic tropical cyclone tracks 

back to the year 1851. Initially, the database was developed from 
9

data presented in Technical Paper 36 (Cry 1959). However, they 

have been continually updated over the years and currently contain storm positions, sustained wind speeds, and central pressures 

(when available) beginning in 1851. Some of the more significant 

changes that have been made to the Cry (1965) tracks are:

 1) The track of storm 2, 1929, was adjusted to pass over An- 

 dros Island in accordance with the findings of Sugg et al.

 (1971).

 2) The 7 p.m. EST, November 4 position of storm number 6, 

 1935, was moved southwestward along the original track to 

 agree with official observations.

 3) An additional storm was added for the year 1945 (number 

11) in accordance with a study by Fernández-Partagás

 (1966).

 4) To be consistent with current operational practice, the hur- 

 ricane stage of storm number 4, 1938, was extended north- 

 ward.

 5) In accordance with published and unpublished data, the

 tracks and intensities of storms number 2 and 19 of 1933, 

 and storm number 3, 1951, were modified. 

 6) In accordance with documentation cited by Tannehill

 (1956), the track of storm number 4, 1928 (the famous “San 

 Felipe” storm) was made to pass over the island of Guade- 

 loupe.

 7) Unpublished information on file at the NHC suggested

 that minor changes be made to some of the original Cry

 et al. (1959) tracks for the years 1932, 1933, 1960, 1961 and

 1966. Also minor changes were made to the tracks for years 

 1971 and 1975.

Additional minor differences still exist between the current 

official database and Cry’s (1965) tracks. For example, detailed records indicate that the exact 7 a.m. September 18 position of storm 

number 6, 1926 was 25.6N, 80.3W rather than 25.8N, 80.1W. However, such small changes are hardly discernible in the scale used on 

Chart Series A and the original charts prepared for Cry’s original 

paper.

Additional data sources for the period through 1963 include: U.S. Navy Annual Tropical Storm Reports (1950-1968); 

Bowden (1974); Carney and Hardy (1969); Carter (1970); Cambriaso (1959); Purvis (1964); U.S. Army Air Force (1945-1948); U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers (1956, 1961); and various published (undated) and unpublished notes on hurricanes in Jamaica, W.I.

Also note that many changes, too numerous to list in detail 

here, have been made for the period prior to 1921 via the reanalysis 

project. The reader is referred to http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/

data_sub/re_anal.html for a complete listing.

5.4 Data Sources 1964-2006

The principal data sources in the preparation of the charts 

for the additional 43 years, 1964 through 2006, were the annual 

summary reports of Atlantic tropical activity prepared by the NHC 

(Monthly Weather Review, 1964-2006) and the HURDAT (Jarvinen et al. 1984) database, often referred to as the “best-track” file. 

In recent years this track information has also been encoded into 

the “b-decks” of the Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecast (ATCF) 

system (Miller et al. 1990). In addition, summary articles tailored 

to specific user groups appear annually in the popular weather 

magazine Weatherwise (e.g. Franklin and Brown 2007) and Mariner’s Weather Log (e.g. Beven and Brown 2007). Annual summary 

articles dealing with the genesis of Atlantic tropical cyclones also 

occasionally appear in the Monthly Weather Review (e.g. Simpson 

et al. 1967; Pasch et al. 1998). Finally, annual summaries describing other aspects of each hurricane season, such as tabulated storm 
10

(best-track) positions, aircraft reconnaissance and satellite-derived 

storm positions, and forecast verifications were issued by the NHC 

for the years 1974-1992 (e.g. Hope et al. 1976; McAdie and Rappaport 1991).

The annual tropical cyclone track charts that appear in individual issues of the Monthly Weather Review for the period subsequent to 1963 were prepared in the same general format used in 

Cry (1965). The maps, beginning with the 1968 season, include 

the subtropical stages (if any) of the storm tracks. The 1970 map 

includes the unnamed storms discussed by Spiegler (1971).

6. ACCURACY OF TRACKS AND INTENSITY CLASSIFICATIONS

Determination of the storm tracks for the years following 

1963 was obviously less burdensome than for the earlier years; the 

only complicating factor being the need to deal with the concept 

of subtropical cyclones beginning in 1968. The decision to include 

these latter storms was based on climatological considerations. In 

earlier years, subtropical systems were not formally recognized as 

separate entities and, in most cases, they were designated as tropical systems. Consequently, failure to include these systems would 

produce a discontinuity in the climatological tabulations beginning 

in 1968.

Tropical cyclones often traverse thousands of miles, but 

spend most of their lives over, and derive their energy from, the 

ocean. Before the era of aircraft reconnaissance and weather 

satellites (see Figure 2), the detection of these storms was 

dependent on chance encounters with shipping or populated land 

areas. Over the Atlantic basin, the intersection of mean tropical 

cyclone tracks with shipping lanes and populated islands makes it 

likely that most major storms would be detected even well back into 

the 19th century. However, even with the knowledge of a storm’s 

presence, it can be difficult, without additional data, to specify an 

exact location and intensity. It is likely, too, that some weaker, short 

duration early storms were not detected at all. 

It is estimated by Landsea et al. (2008) that roughly four 

to six tropical cyclones may have been missed each year from 

1851 to 1885, and that three to four may have been missed yearly 

from 1886-1920. Likewise intensity values (as they appear in the 

revised database) are estimated to be low, on average, by 15 kt for 

the period 1851-1885 and by 10 kt for the period 1886-1920, while 

average absolute errors may be twice that amount. Average track 

position errors are estimated to be about 120 n mi for the period 

1851-1885, and about 100 n mi for the period 1886-1920. These 

averages may reduce to about 60 n mi in cases of landfall in settled 

areas. 

Agencies responsible for determining earlier storm tracks 

and intensities did not have the benefit of satellite data and, 

before 1944, of aircraft reconnaissance. Consequently, the overwater portions of these earlier tracks are subject to considerable 

uncertainties. There were, however, certain milestones in 

communications, observation, and track accuracy. In 1845 the 

first telegraph line was completed between Washington D.C. and 

Boston, providing the means for sending weather information by 

a network of volunteers to the Smithsonian in 1848 (Fitzpatrick 

1999). In 1846 the cup anemometer was invented by T. R. Robinson 

of the Armagh Observatory, Ireland.

Advancements from 1870 onward are treated in some detail 

by Cry (1965), and much of the following is quoted directly or 

indirectly from his account.

For many years following the establishment of the 

U.S. Government Weather Service in 1870, data for a precise 
11

Figure 2. Some milestones in tropical cyclone observing, data processing, and communication systems since 1850.

determination of the location and intensity of tropical cyclones were 

scarce, widely scattered, of generally poor quality, and sometimes 

conflicting. Reports from United States land stations were relayed 

to central forecast offices by telegraph, but observations from ships 

were not received until the vessels returned to port, sometimes 

months later. Although such late reports were of no immediate 

value for forecasting purposes, they were used extensively for 

the construction of tracks of all major storms occurring over the 

oceans. These tracks appeared in the International Meteorology 

Section of the Monthly Weather Review for several years. The files 

of marine observations also served as a basic source for the work 

of Garriott (1900); Fassig (1913); Mitchell (1924, 1932, some 

additional undated material) and others.
12

The first operational radio weather report from a ship 

underway was received December 3, 1905; the first message 

reporting a hurricane was sent August 26, 1909, by the SS Cartago 

from the southern Gulf of Mexico near Yucatan. The amount and 

quality of marine weather data increased gradually during the 

succeeding years. During the June-November tropical cyclone 

season of 1935, more than 21,000 observations were received from 

the tropical portions of the Atlantic. By 1959, the number of observations from the ships during a corresponding period exceeded 

64,000. Since the early 1960’s the number has increased less 

rapidly, because of changes in the characteristics of the shipping 

industry and the availability of satellite observations over oceanic 

areas.

The World War II development of storm-tracking radar and 

subsequent improvements in range and accuracy further increased 

observational capabilities when storms approached land. 

Technological advances since World War II have resulted 

in more precise tropical cyclone detection, positioning, intensity 

determination and prediction. Many of these advances, together 

with earlier noteworthy events, are depicted in Figure 2. Improved 

radiosonde and rawinsonde equipment for measuring weather 

conditions above the earth’s surface have provided additional 

knowledge of factors affecting tropical cyclone motion and 

intensity. The use of aircraft to obtain data inside a hurricane was 

found to be feasible in 1943 (Sheets 1990), and U. S. Air Force and 

Navy aircraft made routine flights into tropical cyclones beginning 

in 1944. Before the operational availability of satellite data in the 

mid-1960’s, these flights proved to be especially important in the 

early detection of storms. 

An important product of the NASA Space Program was the 

development of weather satellites, now the standard observational 

tool for the viewing of tropical cyclones on a global scale. After the 

introduction of continuous weather satellite surveillance in the mid1960’s, augmented by aircraft reconnaissance when storms were 

near critical areas, there is a high probability that the location of the 

storm center and the intensity were determined with a rea-sonable 

degree of accuracy. The first research pictures of a tropical cyclone 

were transmitted by the polar-orbiting TIROS-1 satellite in 1960. 

By 1966 the first completely operational weather satellite, ESSA1, was placed in orbit. The ESSA series were also polar-orbiting 

satellites and provided views of tropical cyclones once per day. By 

the late 1960’s geostationary satellites allowed continuous daylight 

viewing and, in 1974, the nighttime viewing gap was closed with 

the launch of the first Geostationary Operational Environmental 

Satellite (GOES). Systems for viewing, processing and analyzing 

these data have also evolved and improved over the last several 

decades (Sheets 1990). 

By reviewing thousands of satellite cloud signatures, 

Dvorak (1973), Hebert and Poteat (1975) and others were able 

to systematically estimate the location and intensity of a tropical 

cyclone. The resulting “Dvorak technique” was modified a decade 

later (Dvorak 1984) and is now used throughout the world (Velden 

et al. 2006). 

The role of satellite and aircraft data in tropical cyclone 

prediction is discussed by Sheets (1990), Gray et al. (1991), and 

Rappaport et al. (2009). Since all of the storm tracks and intensity 

classifications for the 1964 through 2006 Atlantic hurricane 

seasons were prepared with the benefit of satellite imagery (as well 

as aircraft reconnaissance and other conventional data) the track 

accuracy should be near optimum, considering the scale of the 

maps and the scale of the motion depicted.

A significant milestone occurred during the 1977 hurricane 

season when a complex system known as the Aircraft Satellite Data 

Link (ASDL) enabled aircraft measurements taken inside a storm 

at 60-second intervals to be delivered to the forecaster within a few 

minutes. It is significant to contrast this with an earlier statement 

concerning the receipt of ship observations months after the 

observation was taken. Thus, the temporal gap between taking a 
13

weather observation and receipt of the data by the ultimate user 

continued to close. 

Currently, tropical cyclones are primarily detected and 

tracked by satellite, although supplemental aircraft data are 

needed to obtain more precise environmental data in and around 

the storm area (Rappaport et al. 2009). In addition to military 

aircraft reconnaissance, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA) operates two Orion P3 aircraft with 

sophisticated instrumentation for the collection of detailed data 

that are used primarily for research but are also important for the 

operational needs of the NHC. 

The installation of a national network of powerful Doppler 

radars (Crum and Alberty 1993) was begun in 1990 and completed 

in 1997 (Whiton et al. 1998). Coastal radar is particularly useful in 

detecting sudden changes in the direction and intensity of tropical 

cyclones when these storms are within about 250 miles of the 

radar site. This permits “last-minute” adjustments in community 

preparedness efforts as these storms move ashore. 

Marine data is now supplied by meteorological data buoys 

positioned at strategic locations. These floating platforms transmit 

observations of wind, pressure, waves, ocean and air temperatures 

in and around tropical cyclones and other weather systems (Cione 

et al. 2000).

In 1997 the NOAA aircraft fleet was augmented with a G-IV 

jet aircraft, allowing sampling of the upper atmosphere and release 

of dropsondes over a much wider area (Aberson and Franklin 

1999). New Global Positioning System (GPS) aircraft-released 

dropsondes provide vastly improved data quality and quantity 

over earlier aircraft dropsondes (Franklin et al. 2003a). These data 

also feed into complex numerical models that can predict tropical 

cyclone motion with improved accuracy (McAdie and Lawrence 

2000; Franklin et al. 2003b).

Within the last decade advances have also been made in 

satellite-borne remote-sensing platforms. Among these are the 

polar-orbiting NASA Seawinds scatterometer (QuikSCAT), an 

active microwave sensor that provides estimates of wind speed and 

direction near the sea surface (Von Ahn et al. 2006). The Ad-vanced 

Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) was launched on the NOAA15 polar orbiter in 1998 (Kidder et al. 2000). AMSU provides 

forecasters with temperature and moisture soundings which have 

proved useful in determining tropical cyclone structure and, by 

inference, intensity (Brueske and Velden 2003).

The 156 years from 1851 through 2006 cover the complete 

period of the development of meteorology and organized weather 

services. In general, the quality and quantity of tropical cyclone 

data are consistent with technical advances depicted in Figure 2. 

Better processing, understanding and application of these data 

are leading to continuously improving tropical cyclone motion 

forecasts (McAdie and Lawrence 2000; Franklin et al. 2003b). 

There is every reason to expect continued improvement.

In the early years, observations simply did not exist or 

were very uncertain. Not knowing the location of a storm nor the 

properties of the atmosphere in which the storm was embedded 

and how this was changing with time made forecasting tropical 

cyclone movement and associated intensity extremely uncertain. 

Today, a widespread network of land stations, ships, aircraft, radar, 

satellites, data buoys, etc., along with sophisticated instrumentation 

and communication, is available for the detection, tracking and 

understanding of tropical cyclones.
14

7.1 Chart Series A

The tracks of all recorded Atlantic tropical cyclones that 

reached at least tropical storm strength for each year from 1851 

through 2008 are presented in Chart Series A (Appendix A). For 

the period before 1964, several steps were used by Cry (1965) to 

obtain the final tracks. First, all cyclones considered to be of tropical origin in any given year were listed together with all relevant 

intensity data. Second, all versions of each storm track were plotted on charts. Comparisons of these differing interpretations and 

evaluations of information from all sources, including daily synoptic charts (U.S. Army Air Force 1945-1948; U.S. Weather Bureau 

1872-1963), were made, and the track configuration for each storm 

most consistent with all the data was selected. These positions and 

intensities were plotted on the annual charts of Series A.

The objective was to depict accurately, throughout their 

existence, the position and intensity of each significant tropical 

cyclone in the North Atlantic. Unfortunately, the quality of some 

of the data prevented full attainment of this goal; many positions 

and intensities, particularly for the earlier years, are estimates, representing compromise to significant differences in the references. 

Cry (1965) did not attempt to estimate intensity before 1899. As 

noted previously, subsequent work now incorporated into this edition (Fernández-Partagás and Diaz 1995b, 1996a, 1996b, 1997, 

1999; Landsea 2004, 2008) does provide basic intensity estimates 

starting in 1851, a dissipating tropical depression phase starting in 

1871, and an initial tropical depression phase starting in 1886. Beginning in 1968, the classification of subtropical (see section 4.3) 

was added. 

The tropical cyclone tracks presented here are often referred 

to as “best-tracks.” They represent the best estimate (at 6-hourly 

intervals) of the smoothed path of the center as it moves across 

the earth’s surface. Smoothing is necessary to remove small-scale 

oscillatory motions of the storm center, which can deviate some 5 

to 30 nautical miles from a mean path. These smaller-scale motions 

are transitory and are not representative of the more conservative 

motion of the entire storm envelope (Lawrence and Mayfield 1977; 

Sheets 1986). The storm tracks in Chart Series A and B should 

therefore be considered as the average path of the larger-scale 

storm circulation, rather than the precise location of the center at 

any given time.

Before 1950, there was no formal nomenclature for the 

identification of cyclones. Noteworthy storms were informally designated by such descriptive terms as “Yankee hurricane,” “New 

England hurricane,” “Labor Day hurricane,” “Galveston storm,” 

etc. Official naming of Atlantic tropical cyclones began in 1950. 

Initially, the 1950 vintage phonetic alphabet (Able, Baker, Charlie, 

etc.) was used. However, for the 1953 season, the practice of using women’s names, first used in the western Pacific during World 

War II, was introduced. This convention continued until 1979 when 

both men’s and women’s names were used alternately. In the same 

year, French and Spanish names were introduced. In Chart Series 

A, certain storms lack names even after the formal naming of tropical cyclones began. Some of these remained subtropical. Others, 

originally thought to be nontropical or not of tropical storm intensity, were added after post-analysis indicated they did have tropical 

characteristics. The naming of subtropical systems began in 2002.

7.2 Chart Series B 

Another series of charts (Series B) provides storm groupings according to selected intraseasonal periods. A similar series 

presented by Cry (1965) has always been useful for both operational and research purposes. It is evident that Chart Series B was 

generated without the manual intervention necessary for Series A.

7. NORTH ATLANTIC TROPICAL CYCLONE TRACKS
15

 8. FREQUENCY OF NORTH ATLANTIC TROPICAL CYCLONES

8.1 Monthly and Annual Frequencies

Tables 2 and 3 present monthly and annual frequencies of 

recorded Atlantic-basin tropical cyclones (including subtropical 

storms) and hurricanes for each year 1851 through 2006. Grouping 

in these tables is based on the initial date (UTC) of tropical storm 

intensity (Table 2) or hurricane intensity (Table 3); the tropical 

depression stage (if any) was not included. For example, a storm 

reaching tropical storm strength on August 31, reaching hurricane 

strength on September 5 and dissipating on September 20, would 

be counted as an August storm in Table 2, and a September hurricane in Table 3. 

In any discussion of tropical cyclone frequency, especially when considering data spanning over a century of tremendous 

technological change, the consistency of the data must be considered. Figure 3 illustrates this point. The average storm duration 

(shown averaged per year) in Figure 3a and smoothed in Figure 3b, 

indicates that duration is not well-known prior to perhaps the mid1880s. Indeed, some of these early systems appear in the database 

in a very fragmentary way, the extreme cases being systems known 

only at a single point. In these cases the existence of a system may 

have been captured in mid-ocean by a single (but reliable) ship observation. In other cases the only data may be in the area of landfall. No attempt is made to artificially extend the track beyond what 

is known. Other factors affecting average duration are the omission 

of the initial tropical depression phase prior to 1886 (Table 1), and 

the fact that for a number of tracks during this period the data are 

only adequate for a description of a hurricane phase. Thus, while 

we might have reasonable confidence in that portion of track, its 

total duration is not known. While the data set is as complete as 

possible by the inclusion of this data, care must be taken not to 

unduly bias average quantities. 

Thus, Figure 4 is based on all Atlantic tropical cyclone 

tracks from 1886 through 2006, and the median duration of a tropical cyclone, including the depression stage (if recorded) is found 

to be 5.75 days. Note that duration may vary from less than two to 

over 30 full days. A storm which begins at 0600 UTC on one day 

and ends 0600 UTC on the next would be assigned a duration of 

one day rather than two. The smoothed modal (most frequently occurring duration) is 3.4 days. The mean duration is 6.62 days.

A Mercator projection, true at 22.5oN latitude was used in 

Chart Series B. In a manner similar to that employed in previous 

editions, the tracks are presented without regard to stage, other than 

they are assigned to the period in which they first reached tropical 

storm strength. The intent is to show the spatial and temporal shifts 

in tropical cyclone occurrence. 

Series B charts are presented for the months of May through 

December and for 10- (or 11-) day periods, June through November. Figure 1, illustrating the entire storm sample can also be considered as part of Series B. This rendition of the entire 1370 storm 

sample serves to illustrate the bounds of the North Atlantic tropical 

cyclone basin. The relative frequency of storms in any given area 

can be roughly identified by the track density. 

The tracks were drawn by means of a computer interpolation routine suggested by Akima (1970). Storm positions, at 6-hourly intervals are specified as anchor points. In a few cases, however, 

the 6-hourly positions are insufficient to define tight loops or sudden changes in direction.
16

Figure 3. (a) Average annual duration of tropical storms and hurricanes from 1851-2006. (b) As in (a) except smoothed using 9-year moving average. Before 1870, data is only sufficient for designating the tropical storm, and extratropical phases. Beginning in 1886 all phases 

except subtropical are included. Subtropical designation begins in 1968.
17

The climatology of the basin (Appendix B) is such that 

very brief storms typically form in the Gulf of Mexico and dissipate over adjacent land areas, often before reaching full maturity. 

Storm number 3, 1946 is a good example. 

Including the depression and tropical storm stages and excluding the extratropical stage, hurricanes of long duration include 

Ginger, occurring September 6 to October 3, 1971, Inga, occurring September 20 to October 15, 1969, and Kyle from September 

20 to October 12, 2002 (all dates UTC). All three storms meandered slowly around the western and central Atlantic for much of 

their existence. Other long-duration storms include those that form 

in the eastern Atlantic, travel westward, recurve near or over the 

United States East Coast and then move northeastward across the 

open Atlantic. 

Figure 5, spanning the entire extended data set, shows that 

the effect of data quality is somewhat less dramatic when simply 

Figure 4. Distribution of observed duration (number of days) 

of Atlantic tropical cyclones, 1886-2006, including depression 

and subtropical stages but excluding extratropical stage.

Figure 5. Number of tropical storms and hurricanes from 

1851-2006.
18

considering the number of systems, without regard to intensity or 

duration. Given the discussion above, however, one is left with the 

central dilemma of any tropical cyclone climatology, which is the 

combined effect of data quality, data completeness, and natural 

variability present in tropical cyclone occurrence. 

Before the aircraft reconnaissance era, it is considered 

likely that short-duration and, perhaps even some longer-duration 

over-water storms were either undetected or were misclassified in 

regard to location and intensity. After the mid-1940’s, when aircraft reconnaissance began, it became increasingly likely that most 

storms would be detected, except perhaps in the distant eastern 

Atlantic. After the introduction of operational weather satellites in 

the mid-1960’s, even the more remote areas became viewable. In 

Figure 6. Distribution of annual number of tropical cyclones with maximum winds of at least (a) 34 kts and (b) 64 kts, 1870-

2006.
19

this regard, Landsea (2007) estimates that about two systems per 

year may have been missed from 1900-1965 due to lack of satellite imagery, and conversely that roughly one additional system per 

year has been identified through new technology since about 2000. 

As the latter are typically very short-lived systems, those conducting interdecadal comparisons have sought to characterize seasonal 

activity by utilizing some measure of total energy (one example 

being the Accumulated Energy Index, or ACE [Bell and Chellah 

2006]) rather than raw storm count. 

In addition to observational deficiencies, it is known that 

large-scale atmospheric conditions such as El Niño or variations in 

sea-surface temperatures, in general, can influence tropical cyclone 

frequency and intensity. Some of these factors are discussed by 

Wendland (1977), Gray (1984), and Shapiro (1989).

The number of storms occurring in any given year does 

vary widely, as shown by the frequency distributions presented in 

Figures 6 and 7. One year, 1914, had only one occurrence, while 21 

tropical storms or hurricanes occurred in 1933. 2005 witnessed an 

unprecedented 28 named systems. There were no storms reaching 

hurricane strength in the years 1907 and 1914, while 12 hurricanes 

occurred in 1887 and 1969. The record year for hurricanes was 

2005, with 15 occurrences.

Figure 7. Annual distribution of the 1245 tropical cyclones reaching at least tropical storm strength (blue) and the 738 reaching 

hurricane strength (red), 1870-2006. The average number per year is 9.1 and 5.4 respectively.
20

Table 2. Number of recorded Atlantic cyclones (excluding tropical depressions and including subtropical cyclones) that 

reached at least tropical storm intensity in specified month, 1851-2006. Refer to Table 4 for summaries of these data.
21

Another record of interest is the maximum number of hurricanes in consecutive years. The following data are found in the 

annual totals given in Table 3:

 • the 2004-2005 seasons (2 consecutive years) observed 

 24 hurricanes;

 • the 2003-2005 seasons (3 consecutive years) observed 

 31 hurricanes;

 • the 2003-2006 seasons (4 consecutive years) observed 

 36 hurricanes;

 • the 2001-2005 seasons (5 consecutive years) observed 

 44 hurricanes.

Considering the entire Atlantic basin, there are several areas 

off the eastern coast of the United States that observe the maximum 

number (frequency) of hurricanes. These areas are located about 

150 n mi east of the North Carolina/South Carolina border, and 

about 280 n mi east of the central east coast of Florida. Both of 

these offshore areas observe about 40 to 42 hurricanes per 100 

years (that is, the centers of these hurricanes track through a circle 

of radius 75 n mi centered in those locations). (Figure 12, Section 

8.5 addresses hurricane counts for coastal areas.)

Long-term upward or downward trends in the frequency of 

tropical cyclones, if not accounted for, make the average frequency 

a function of the period of record. To illustrate, data from Tables 

2 and 3 have been averaged over four periods: 1870-2006, 1910-

1930, 1944-2006, and 1966-2006 (see Table 4). The first period 

begins in the era when observational tools were limited; the second 

period shows a minimum in frequency with an average of only about 

six storms per year; the third period, 1944-2006 begins with the 

introduction of aircraft reconnaissance, while the last period spans 

the years during which satellite imagery has been available. The 

averages for the four periods appear in Table 4. While substantial 

differences in the monthly and annual frequencies can be noted, 

omitting the pre-satellite era (i.e. the years before 1966) from the 

1944 to 2006 period results in a modest increase in average storms 

and hurricanes (.5 systems per year), no change in the average 

number of hurricanes, and a slight decrease in average number of 

major hurricanes. 

8.2 Daily Frequencies

Figures 8a and b illustrate the incidence of tropical 

cyclones over the North Atlantic basin on a daily basis for the 

8-month period that covers the principal season. Except for the 

longer period of record, Figure 8a is similar to one presented by 

Cry (1965). Figure 8b uses the same data as Figure 8a except that it 

has been smoothed using a 9-day moving average. These smoothed 

Table 2. (Continued)
22

Table 3. Number of recorded Atlantic cyclones (excluding 

tropical depressions and including subtropical cyclones) that 

reached at least hurricane intensity in specified month, 1851- 

2006. Refer to Table 4 for summaries of these data.

frequencies eliminate much of the “noise” inherent in the raw data, 

yet preserve the larger-scale seasonal cycles.

Referring to Figure 8b, the seasonal fluctuations in 

tropical cyclone frequency include, in chronological order, a slight 

maximum around mid-June, followed by a slight decline until 

early-July, a rapid increase in frequency starting in early August, 

with a peak occurring around September 10. A sharp decline in 

frequency occurs thereafter, interrupted by a slight increase in midOctober.

It can be noted in Figures 8a and b that the storm frequency 

on any given day is specified in units of “Number of storms per 

100 years.” This unit of measurement is convenient for comparing 

Atlantic storm frequencies with similarly normalized charts for 

other basins having dissimilar periods of record. In preparing these 

figures, multiple storm occurrences on single days were included 

in the overall totals. Thus, the occurrence of three storms on a 

given date for a single year would yield the same average as a 

single storm on the same date for each of three years. This counting 

methodology needs to be considered when interpreting these data.

The latter topic is specifically addressed in Figure 9 where 

it can be noted that multiple storm occurrences on single days 

are reasonably common during the peak of the hurricane season. 

Figure 9a shows that, except for the period from about August 30 to 

September 25, there is a greater chance of not observing a tropical 

cyclone on any given day than there is of observing at least one 

tropical cyclone over the North Atlantic basin.

The maximum multiple occurrence event depicted on these 

figures is the “at least three” category. The maximum number of 

simultaneous occurrences on a single day over the North Atlantic 

is four, although such an event is quite rare, being observed in 

only eight of the 137 years, 1870-2006. The longest daily span of 

a four-storm event occurred in 1893 when four tropical storms or 

hurricanes were in existence during August 15-24. The most recent 

occurrence of such an event was in 1998 when four tropical cyclones 

(Georges, Ivan, Jeanne and Karl) occurred simultaneously, during 

September 24-27. Also, during the very active 1995 season, there 

were four storms present from August 29-September 1 (Humberto, 

Iris, Karen and Luis). 

There were only two years (1893 and 1998) when 4 

hurricanes existed simultaneously. The 1998 hurricanes were 

Georges, Ivan, Jeanne and Karl and the dates were September 25 
23
24

Figure 8. (a) Intraseasonal variations in the 100-year expectancy of tropical cyclone occurrence. Red bar is for hurricanes while 

blue bar is for hurricanes and tropical storms combined. Summary is based on the 137-year period 1870-2006. (b) As in (a) except 

smoothed by a 9-day moving average.
25

Figure 9. Intraseasonal variation in the 100-year frequency of specified tropical cyclone events. Summary is for a) hurricanes 

and tropical storms combined and is based on the period of record 1870 - 2006. (b) As in (a) except for hurricanes alone.
26

Figure 10. Cumulative percentage frequency distribution of 

beginning and ending dates of Atlantic tropical cyclone season. 

(Dates are of first and last recorded position with at least tropical storm strength.) Data have been smoothed using a 9-day 

moving average.

and 26. The “official” Atlantic hurricane season extends from June 

1 to November 30. However, the season sometimes begins or ends 

“outside” of these somewhat arbitrary limits. Figure 10 presents 

a cumulative percentage frequency distribution (Anderson et al. 

2008) of the beginning and ending dates of the Atlantic tropical 

cyclone season. Although there are a few instances when the first 

storm began earlier than May 1 (see Table 2) these pre-season 

events were not included in Figure 10. The figure shows that the 

median (50% cumulative percentage frequency) starting date is 

June 29 while the median ending date is October 30. 

There are no well-defined statistical relationships between 

the beginning and ending dates; that is, the seasons that began early 

or late do not necessarily end early or late. There is only a weak 

statistical relationship between starting date and the number of 

storms. Although seasons that begin early tend to have more storms 

than those that begin late, the low linear correlation coefficient 

(-0.21) indicates that there are many exceptions to this “rule.”

8.3 Areas of Formation

Seasonal shifts in the principal areas of tropical cyclone 

formation over the Atlantic basin have been recognized for many 

decades and the reader is referred to references such as Dunn 

(1951) or Dunn and Miller (1960) for discussions. These seasonal 

shifts become quite apparent after a review of Chart Series B. Early 

season tropical cyclones are almost exclusively confined to the 

western Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. However, by the end of 

June or early July, the area of formation gradually shifts eastward 

with a slight decline in the number of storms. By late July, the 

frequency gradually increases, and the centroid of formation shifts 

still farther eastward. By mid-August, tropical cyclones form over 

a broad area that extends eastward to near the Cape Verde Islands 

off Africa. The period from about August 20 to September 15 

encompasses the maximum occurrence of the “Cape Verde” type 

storms, so-named because they can traverse the entire Atlantic and 

are often a threat to the Caribbean Islands and the United States.

Many additional features relating to temporal and spatial 

variations in storm frequency can be identified by careful analysis 

of Chart Series B. It often is helpful to consider these charts in conjunction with Figures 8a and b, depicting the daily frequencies. 

As discussed in Section 2, readers wishing to perform their own 

analysis of the storm tracks can download the basic data from the 

National Hurricane Center Internet Web site at http://www.nhc.

noaa.gov.

8.4 Tropical Cyclones Affecting the U.S.

Of the 1370 tropical cyclones that have been recorded over 

the Atlantic tropical cyclone basin, 1851-2006, a total of 521 or 

about 38% have crossed or passed immediately adjacent to the 

United States coastline, Texas to Maine. Figure 11 shows the yearto-year distribution of these 521 storms. It is interesting to note that 

since the mid-1860s there has been at least one coastal crossing 
27

Table 4. Total and average number of tropical cyclones (excluding tropical depressions) beginning each month. Data have been 

summarized from Tables 2 and 3. Subtropical systems are included. Asterisk (*) indicates less than 0.05 storms. 
28

Figure 11. Annual distribution of the 521 tropical storms and hurricanes (blue bars) and the 278 hurricanes alone (red bars) 

that have crossed or passed immediately adjacent to the U.S. coastline (Texas to Maine) over the 156-year period 1851-2006. The 

average number of these events is 3.3 and 1.8 respectively per year.

per year. It is possible that some smaller systems were missed in 

sparsely settled coastal areas, especially in Florida, Louisiana, and 

Texas before 1900 (Landsea et al. 2004). 

Locations of the coastal crossings referred to in Figure 

11 can be found on the appropriate yearly map in Chart Series A. 

In regard to these coastal crossings, the weather is usually very 

asymmetrical in the area of landfall. Looking in the direction of 

storm motion, the worst weather is normally to the storm’s right 

side where rotational winds and translational (forward) motion 

are complementary; thus, for a hurricane moving into the Florida 

peninsula from the east, the strongest winds and storm surge would 

normally be on the right (north) side; for a storm moving into the 

Florida west coast from the Gulf, the maximum wind and storm 

surge would be expected south of the center. 

Other meteorological conditions and terrain features 

also contribute to wind, wind gusts, weather and storm surge 

asymmetries such that it is difficult to speculate on the extent and 

nature of storm damage at a particular site given only the storm track 

and storm classification. Also, building codes vary from location 

to location. Accordingly, persons desiring to know the specific effects or potential effects of past or future storms on a given site 

should seek further meteorological or engineering advice. 

8.5 Coastal Variation of U.S. Tropical Cyclone Threat

Many factors relate to the geographical variation of coastal 

tropical cyclone frequency and intensity from Texas to Maine. 

Since the maximum possible intensity of hurricanes depends on 

a continuous supply of warm and very moist air near the surface, 

a marine environment with warm sea-surface temperatures is 

an important factor. Thus, in general, storms hitting the cooler 

northeast coast are apt to be less frequent and less intense than 

those hitting the south or the southeast coast. Another factor is the 

location and orientation of the coastline in relation to mean storm 

tracks. Storms located in the Gulf of Mexico are almost certain to 
29

Figure 12. Variation of tropical cyclone frequency and intensity along the U.S. coastline, south Texas to Maine. For three different intensity categories, inset chart gives the frequency of tropical cyclones passing near selected coastal points shown by 

small red circles on map (small white triangles in insert give data for and location of Key West, FL). Comparable data for a few 

Caribbean sites are given in the lower right corner of map. See Section 8.5 for further explanation.
30

Table 5. Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale (Saffir 1977). Important note: The scale is given below in its current form. As such, it 

includes ranges for storm surge and other effects. However, it should be noted that storm surge is determined by many factors 

(e.g. storm size, bathymetry, coastal configuration) which cannot be accounted for by maximum wind alone. Thus, a large category 2 hurricane may cause storm surge much greater than implied by this scale, or a small category 4 could cause less. An effort is underway within the NWS to modify the scale to remove explicit storm surge values and flooding effects which may cause 

potential confusion among those under a hurricane warning. The modified scale will be used on an experimental basis during 

the 2009 Hurricane season. If adopted, a formatted page will be made available for insertion in this publication. For further 

information on the status of this proposed change, please see: http://www.weather.gov/infoservicechanges/sshws.pdf. 
31

Table 6. Chronological listing of U.S. hurricane landfalls, 1851-2006, with impact according to the Saffir-Simpson scale, by state 

or subregion. (I) after state abbreviation indicates inland effect. Maximum category at landfall shown in brackets at the end of 

each listing (also see endnote).
32
33

Table 7. Number of Saffir-Simpson (SS) category events for 

specified coastal states, 1851-2006. State totals represent only 

the highest category experienced for each hurricane. (Note that 

totals will fluctuate due to ongoing reanalysis project.) 
34

Figure 12 does not specifically address tropical cyclones 

that cross the coast, although there is a reasonably good correlation 

between coastal crossings and the frequencies shown on the figure. 

One notable exception occurs in the north Florida/south Georgia 

coastal area where the number of tropical cyclones crossing the 

coast from the Atlantic is rather small. However, Figure 13 suggests 

a relatively high frequency of tropical cyclone events in that area. 

Most of this high frequency is caused by tropical storms that 

approached from a southwesterly direction from the Gulf and were 

weakened by their passage over the Florida Peninsula. The number 

of major hurricanes affecting the north Florida/south Georgia area 

is observed to be quite low and this is consistent with Figure 12.

8.6 Hurricane Damage Potential

The previous sections (8.4 and 8.5) dealt with all tropical 

cyclones, regardless of intensity. This section concerns only 

hurricanes; that is, storms having sustained winds near the center 

of at least 64 knots. Figure 11 shows that, of the 521 coastal 

crossings, 1851-2006, 278 or slightly over one-half were classified 

as hurricanes. Depending upon the section of coastline under 

consideration, this average can vary from 40 to 60%. 

The amount of damage caused by hurricanes is highly 

variable and depends on a number of factors. Obviously, more 

intense storms can be expected to yield more damage. However, 

there are numerous other factors which need be considered such as 

wind gusts, storm size, the speed of translational motion (affecting 

rainfall and fresh-water flooding), storm surge (affected by offshore 

water depth and coastal configuration), astronomical tide, terrain 

features, local building codes, distance from coast, etc.

In 1972, the National Weather Service accepted a hurricane 

damage scale devised by Herbert Saffir, and later expanded upon 

by Robert Simpson. The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale (Saffir 1977; 

OFCM 2007), as it has come to be known (Table 5), relates the strength 

of hurricane-force winds and associated storm surge with potential 

2 4

make landfall in either the U.S. or Mexico, whereas those off the 

U.S. East Coast may recurve and remain at sea. 

Tropical cyclone variation along the United States Gulf and 

East Coast is depicted in Figure 12. At fifty-seven coastal locations, 

approximately fifty miles apart, counts were made of the number 

of tropical cyclones whose centers passed within 75 nautical miles 

of the sampling point (1886-2006). These fifty-seven locations are 

shown by the red dots along the coast. The count was stratified 

by the following thresholds: 34 knots (all tropical storms and 

hurricanes), 64 knots (hurricanes) and 96 knots (major hurricanes).

The upper left inset of Figure 12 shows the results of 

the above counting procedure. The number of tropical cyclones 

counted in the process (normalized to number of storms per 100 

years) is shown by the vertical axis on the left side of the inset. 

The first point on the left side of the chart is for south Texas (Port 

Isabel) while that on the extreme right is for northeastern Maine. 

A few well-known locations (not necessarily at the same locations 

as the evenly spaced fifty-seven sampling points) are listed across 

the bottom axis for convenience.

Looking at the upper (blue) line in the inset, note that, in 

general, there is a gradual but irregular increase in the frequency 

of weaker tropical cyclones (tropical storms) from South Texas, 

around Florida to Cape Hatteras with a rapid decline in frequency 

thereafter. Superimposed on this larger-scale pattern, local maxima 

can be noted near Galveston , the Mississippi Delta area , 

southern Florida , and the southeastern Massachusetts-Nantucket 

area .

Insofar as hurricanes are concerned (middle red line), two 

rather distinct maxima occur: over southern Florida and near 

Cape Hatteras . Finally, the lowermost line (major hurricanes) 

shows maxima over southern Florida and the Keys, near the 

Mississippi Delta and again, the Cape Hatteras area. 

1 2

3

5

4

4

3

3
35

damage. The scale is now widely used in public awareness programs 

and by the news media. It gives the public and disaster preparedness 

officials a good estimate of what damage can be expected from 

various levels of intensity.

In general, damage from hurricanes in the continental U.S. 

increases by a factor of four for each increase in category on the 

Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale (Pielke et al. 2008). Even though 

major hurricanes (category 3 and above) account for only 20% of 

all U.S. landfalling hurricanes, they cause over 85% of the damage. 

As of 2005, tropical cyclones cause on average about $10 billion 

(in 2005 dollars) in direct damage per year. This amount is roughly 

doubling every 10-15 years because of dramatically increasing 

population, infrastructure, and per capita wealth along the U.S. 

coastlines (Pielke et al. 2008).

Hebert and Taylor (1975) carefully analyzed all hurricanes 

that had affected the United States, beginning with the 1900 season, 

and classified them according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale 

as given in Table 5. The analysis has been extended back to 1851 by 

Landsea et al. (2004, 2008) and was amended to include later years 

(with some modifications) by Blake et al. (2007) (Table 6).

Ideally, a Saffir-Simpson scale assignment would be made 

in terms of observed damage with consideration being given to local 

building codes. However, the amount of damage in some historical 

storms was not always known, nor was the wind or the building 

code. Accordingly, the original authors based their damage-scale 

estimates on central pressure. Central pressure is a quantity more 

often retrievable from historical records, much more so than the 

wind. Furthermore, pressure is considered a more conservative 

quantity than wind and, in the inverse sense, is well-correlated with 

wind speed. 

Currently, winds or wind estimates are generally available 

when hurricanes make landfall. Accordingly, a decision was made 

after the 1995 season by NHC officials to base future Saffir-Simpson 

scale assignments on the wind. At the time of this publication, 

assignment of Saffir-Simpson category at landfall for the period 

1851-1920, and from 1996 onward, is based upon the estimated 

maximum 1-min sustained wind (Table 6). 

In 2007 the NHC agreed to include in Table 6, and related 

data sets, an indicator for well-documented hurricane force winds 

observed inland. For example, the sequence FL(NW)2, GA(I)1 

indicates a category 2 landfall along the Florida panhandle and 

subsequent category 1 winds inland in Georgia. These effects can be 

differentiated from a coastal Atlantic hurricane landfall in Georgia 

which continues to be designated as GA1 (assuming a category one 

landfall). A resulting storm count thus remains compatible with 

previous work. 

The data presented in Table 6 are summarized by state in 

Table 7. Because of their long coastlines, Florida and Texas are 

further subdivided geographically. In Florida, the north-south 

dividing line is roughly from Cape Canaveral to Tarpon Springs. In 

Texas, the south zone is roughly from the Mexico border to Corpus 

Christi; central is from north of Corpus Christi to Matagorda Bay 

and north is from Matagorda Bay to the Louisiana border.

Entries in Table 7 may be made for the same hurricane 

more than once if it affected more than one section or state; thus, 

sectional totals cannot be summed to get national totals. The initial 

line of Table 7 is an actual count of the number of hurricanes that 

have affected the United States, where only the highest SaffirSimpson category in any individual state is used. 

Thus, over the 156-year period 1851 through 2006, a total 

of 278 category 1 through 5 hurricanes have crossed the U.S. 

coastline at one or more points. This is somewhat less than two 

hurricanes per year, on average. Since some hurricanes affect or 

threaten more than one coastal segment, occurrence of hurricane 
36

warnings average closer to two per year over some coastal segments 

of the United States. Economic aspects of these warnings are discussed by Sugg (1967) and by Neumann (1975); societal aspects are discussed by Pielke (1990).

 9. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND OTHER COMMENTS

In any continuing documentation of this type, it is impossible 

to acknowledge all persons and agencies who have contributed 

their time, effort and expertise. Documentation of tropical cyclone 

tracks has been a central task of the NHC for many years. Some of 

this work was accomplished by part-time students assigned to the 

Center on various work/study, cooperative education or international 

exchange programs. Paul Hebert, a former Hurricane Specialist at 

the NHC provided most of the information on subtropical cyclones 

and acted as consultant on other technical matters. 

We wish to acknowledge Charles J. Neumann’s role as lead 

author of all previous editions, beginning in 1978, and his continuing 

contribution as co-author of this volume. The work of George 

Cry, co-author of the initial 1978 edition, is also acknowledged. 

Indeed, the basic framework of this series is patterned after his 

early Technical Paper 55. The work of previous co-authors: Brian 

Jarvinen, Eduardo Caso, Joe Elms of the NOAA National Climatic 

Data Center and the late Dr. Arthur Pike of NHC is acknowledged.

Those familiar with the previous black-and-white versions 

of this publication will appreciate the work involved in redrafting 

the entire 156-yr track chart series in color for this edition. This 

huge task was undertaken and ably performed by Joan David of 

our staff. The gracious application of her skills in designing and 

redesigning figures is also greatly appreciated. 

Eric Blake undertook the heroic task of not only checking 

the text, tables, and figures, but the entire series of track charts, for 

which the first author is especially grateful.

As mentioned earlier, a comprehensive reanalysis of all 

available data, published and unpublished, relating to Atlantic 

tropical cyclones continues. It is anticipated that the next edition 

will encompass the complete reanalysis.
37

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44

APPENDIX A

 TRACKS OF NORTH ATLANTIC TROPICAL CYCLONES BY YEARS, 1851-2006 

(CHART SERIES A)

 INFORMATION INCLUDED ON CHART

 (See Table 1 for definition of various stages)

1851-1870 Tropical storm, hurricane, and extratropical phase only. 

1871-2006 Tropical storm, hurricane, extratropical phase, and dissipating tropical depression phase. 

1886-2006 Initial tropical depression phase, tropical storm, hurricane, extratropical phase, and dissipating tropical depression phase.

1968-2006 Initial tropical depression phase, tropical storm, hurricane, extratropical phase, dissipating tropical depression phase, 

 subtropical depression, subtropical storm phase (if present).

1975-2006 Tropical depression, tropical storm, hurricane, subtropical depression, subtropical storm and extratropical storm, with 

 lifecycle minimum central pressure indicated.

 

Note: A set of blank track charts has been provided for attaching track maps after publication. These are normally published in the 

Monthly Weather Review, and are also available for download at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov. (For the convenience of the reader the 2007 

and 2008 track charts have been included.)

See the following page for additional notes on the sixth addition. 
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ATTACH 2009 TRACK CHART
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ATTACH 2010 TRACK CHART
206

ATTACH 2011 TRACK CHART
207

ATTACH 2012 TRACK CHART
208

ATTACH 2013 TRACK CHART
209

ATTACH 2014 TRACK CHART
210

APPENDIX B 

 TRACKS OF NORTH ATLANTIC TROPICAL CYCLONES BY INTRA-SEASONAL PERIODS, 1851-2006 

 (CHART SERIES B)

Tracks of North Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes by months, May through December and by 10- (or 11-) day periods, June 1 

through November 30.
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Endnote

As noted in the text, the HURDAT data set upon which this publication is based is currently undergoing a reanalysis. There are a number of issues 

to be addressed, one of which is the Saffir-Simpson category at the time of hurricane landfall. While the current practice at NHC is to assign the 

category at landfall based on the wind alone, this has not always been the case. In plotting according to wind, as has been done here, past practice 

in assigning Saffir-Simpson category can result in some apparent discrepancies. It is expected that the next edition will reflect the completed reanalysis and that these issues will have been largely resolved. 

1929 #2 Although currently shown in Table 6 as a category 3 at 

the time of landfall in south Florida, the winds alone at the time of landfall as they currently appear in HURDAT do not support this designation. 

1933 #8 Although currently shown in Table 6 as a category 2 at 

the time of landfall in North Carolina and Virginia, the winds alone at the 

time of landfall as they currently appear in HURDAT do not support this 

designation. 

1933 #13 Although currently shown in Table 6 as a category 3 

at the time of landfall in North Carolina, the winds alone at the time of 

landfall as they currently appear in HURDAT do not support this designation. 

1934 #2 Although currently shown in Table 6 as a category 3 at 

the time of landfall in Louisiana, the winds alone at the time of landfall 

as they currently appear in HURDAT do not support this designation. 

1936 #5 Although currently shown in Table 6 as a category 3 at 

the time of landfall in Florida, the winds alone at the time of landfall as 

they currently appear in HURDAT do not support this designation.

1938 #4 Although currently shown in Table 6 as a category 

3 at the time of landfall in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and 

Massachusetts, the winds alone at the time of landfall as they currently 

appear in HURDAT do not support this designation.

1941 #2 Although currently shown as category 3 at the time of 

landfall in Table 6, and other publications, the winds alone at the time of 

landfall as they currently appear in HURDAT do not support this designation. 

1941 #5 Although the winds as they currently appear in 

HURDAT (as plotted) support a designation of category 3, effects of this 

hurricane were deemed to be category 2 in previous studies and pending 

reanalysis are still shown as such in Table 6.

1942 #2 Although currently shown as category 3 at the time of 

landfall in Table 6, and other publications, the winds alone at the time of 

landfall as they currently appear in HURDAT do not support this designation. 

1944 #7 Although currently shown as category 3 at the time of 

landfall in Table 6, and other publications, the winds alone at the time of 

landfall as they currently appear in HURDAT do not support this designation. 

1945 #5 Although the winds as they currently appear in 

HURDAT (as plotted) support a designation of category 3, effects of this 

hurricane were deemed to be category 2 in previous studies and pending 

reanalysis are still shown as such in Table 6.

1947 #4 Although currently shown in Table 6 as category 3 at 

the time of landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi, the winds alone at the 
238

time of landfall as they currently appear in HURDAT do not support this 

designation. 

1949 #10 Although the winds as they currently appear in 

HURDAT (as plotted) support a designation of category 3, effects of this 

hurricane were deemed to be category 2 in previous studies and pending 

reanalysis are still shown as such in Table 6.

1950 #11 Although currently shown as category 3 at the time of 

landfall in Table 6, and other publications, the winds alone at the time of 

landfall as they currently appear in HURDAT do not support this designation. 

1954 #3 H Carol Although currently shown in Table 6 as category 3 at the time of landfall in New York, Connecticut and Rhode 

Island, the winds alone at the time of landfall as they currently appear in 

HURDAT do not support this designation. 

1954 #5 MH Edna Although currently shown in Table 6 as category 3 at the time of landfall in Massachusetts, the winds alone at the 

time of landfall as they currently appear in HURDAT do not support this 

designation. 

1955 #2 MH Connie Although currently shown in Table 6 as 

category 3 at the time of landfall in North Carolina, the winds alone at 

the time of landfall as they currently appear in HURDAT do not support 

this designation. 

1955 #9 MH Ione Although currently shown in Table 6 as category 3 at the time of landfall in North Carolina, the winds alone at the 

time of landfall as they currently appear in HURDAT do not support this 

designation.

1960 #5 MH Donna Although currently shown in Table 6 as category 3 at the time of landfall in North Carolina and New York, the winds 

alone at the time of landfall as they currently appear in HURDAT do not 

support this designation. 

1960 #6 MH Ethel Although currently shown in Table 6 as category 1 at the time of landfall in Mississippi, the winds alone at the time 

of landfall as they currently appear in HURDAT do not support this designation. 

1964 #11 MH Isbell Although the winds as they currently appear in HURDAT (as plotted) support a designation of category 3 at the 

time of landfall in Florida, effects of this hurricane were deemed to be 

category 2 in previous studies and pending reanalysis are still shown as 

such in Table 6.

1972 #2 H Agnes Although currently shown in Table 6 as category 1 at the time of landfall in New York and Connecticut, the winds 

alone at the time of landfall as they currently appear in HURDAT do not 

support this designation. 

1985 #7 MH Gloria Although currently shown in Table 6 as 

category 3 at the time of landfall in New York, the winds alone at the 

time of landfall as they currently appear in HURDAT do not support this 

designation. 

The following Table 6 update through 2008 is provided for the 

convenience of the reader. For current year information and 

future updates as they become available, please see: http://

www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/Data_Storm.html for data in 

tabular form, or http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastall.shtml and 

select ‘HURDAT’ data file.