page_title: Hurricane Edith (1963)
section_title: Meteorological history
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Edith (1963) / Meteorological history
caption_attribution_description: English: Track map of Hurricane Edith of the 1963 Atlantic hurricane season. The points show the location of the storm at 6-hour intervals. The colour represents the storm's maximum sustained wind speeds as classified in the Saffir–Simpson scale (see below), and the shape of the data points represent the nature of the storm, according to the legend below. Saffir–Simpson scale Tropical depression≤38 mph≤62 km/h Category 3111–129 mph178–208 km/h Tropical storm39–73 mph63–118 km/h Category 4130–156 mph209–251 km/h Category 174–95 mph119–153 km/h Category 5≥157 mph≥252 km/h Category 296–110 mph154–177 km/h Unknown Storm type Tropical cyclone Subtropical cyclone Extratropical cyclone / Remnant low / Tropical disturbance / Monsoon depression
context_page_description: Hurricane Edith brought flooding and wind damage to portions of the Greater and Lesser Antilles. The sixth tropical storm and fifth hurricane of the 1963 season, Edith developed east of the Windward Islands on September 23 from an Intertropical Convergence Zone disturbance. Initially a tropical depression, it strengthened into Tropical Storm Edith the next day. Shortly thereafter, Edith reached hurricane status. Edith fluctuated between Category 1 and 2 status as it moved west-northwest. Upon reaching Category 2 intensity on September 25, the storm peaked with winds of 100 mph. After striking Saint Lucia on September 25, the storm traversed the eastern Caribbean Sea. Curving north-northwest on September 26, Edith made landfall near La Romana, Dominican Republic, early on the following day as a minimal hurricane. Interaction with land and an upper-level trough caused Edith to weaken to a tropical storm on September 28 and to a tropical depression by the next day. The storm dissipated just east of the Bahamas on September 29.
  In Martinique, a wind gust of 127 mph was observed at Le Lamentin Airport; tides about 8 ft above normal and heavy rainfall impacted the island.
context_section_description: An area of disturbed weather in the Intertropical Convergence Zone was first observed on September 22 by the Dutch tanker Aceteon. On the following day, imagery from TIROS VII indicated that a surface circulation developed. With a reconnaissance aircraft observing winds of 29 mph (47 km/h), a tropical depression developed at 12:00 UTC on September 23 about 525 mi (845 km) east-southeast of Barbados. Later that day, the U.S. Weather Bureau initiated advisories on the system. Another flight on September 24 indicated that the depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Edith by 12:00 UTC. Six hours later, the system intensified into a Category 1 hurricane on the modern day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Around 00:00 UTC on September 25, Edith strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane while situated north of Barbados. However, after six hours, the storm weakened to a Category 1 hurricane. Shortly after 06:00 UTC on September 25, Edith struck Saint Lucia with winds of 85 mph (140 km/h). Subsequently entering the Caribbean Sea, the cyclone re-intensified into a Category 2 hurricane and soon peaked with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (160 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 990 mbar (29 inHg).
  However, the storm began weakening again and fell to a Category 1 hurricane early on September 26. Around midday, Edith turned north-northwestward toward the Mona Passage. It made landfall slightly west of La Romana, Dominican Republic, around 08:00 UTC on September 27 with winds of 75 mph (120 km/h). Edith crossed the island in about eight hours and maintained hurricane status. However, the cyclone weakened over the Atlantic and eastern Bahamas due to further land interaction and a frontal low pressure area, which developed near South Florida a few days earlier and moved east-northeastward to a location about 690 mi (1,110 km) from Edith. As a result, the pressure gradient in the Bahamas region weakened significantly, disrupting the easterly flow north of Edith. At 00:00 UTC on September 28, the hurricane weakened to a tropical storm. Edith struck North Caicos in the Turks and Caicos Islands about 18 hours later with winds of 40 mph (65 km/h). Edith curved northeastward and weakened to a tropical depression early on September 29, shortly before dissipating about 70 mi (110 km) northeast of Mayaguana island in the Bahamas. The remnants of Edith were lasted noted moving in tandem with the frontal low well east of Bermuda.
caption: Map plotting the track and the intensity of the storm, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
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