Track map & timeline · Atlantic · September 7–19, 1940
TD TS Cat 1 2 3 4 5 · dashed = post-tropical / remnant low. Click any point or table row to jump there.
01 · The story
The 1940 Nova Scotia Hurricane was a Category 2 hurricane of the 1940 Atlantic season. It formed on September 7, 1940, reached its peak of 98 mph (157 km/h) on September 13, 1940, and never made landfall. It rapidly intensified by 34 mph in 24 hours (to 92 mph on September 13, 1940). The storm lasted 12.0 days and travelled about 4,585 miles (7,378 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Impact
| City | Distance to center | When (UTC) | Storm strength then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada | 65 mi | Sep 17 · 05:00 UTC | Cat 1 77 mph |
Distance from the city to the storm’s center, interpolated hourly between official fixes. Damaging winds, surge and rain reach far beyond the center.
04 · Timeline
| Date · UTC | Status | Wind | Pressure | Position | Nearest place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 7 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 15.2°N 47.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 8 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 15.4°N 48.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 8 06:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 15.7°N 49.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 8 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 16.2°N 50.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 8 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 16.7°N 51.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 9 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 17.2°N 52.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 9 06:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 17.7°N 53.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 9 12:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 18.2°N 54.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 9 18:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 18.7°N 55.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 10 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 19.1°N 55.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 10 06:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 19.4°N 56.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 10 12:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 19.6°N 57.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 10 18:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 19.7°N 58.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 11 00:00 | TS | 46 mph | — | 19.8°N 59.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 11 06:00 | TS | 46 mph | — | 19.9°N 60.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 11 12:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 20.1°N 61.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 11 18:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 20.4°N 62.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 12 00:00 | TS | 58 mph | — | 20.7°N 63.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 12 06:00 | TS | 58 mph | — | 21.1°N 64.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 12 12:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 21.5°N 65.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 12 18:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 21.8°N 66.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 13 00:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 22.2°N 68.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 13 06:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 22.6°N 69.5°W | 185 mi ENE of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands |
| Sep 13 12:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 23.2°N 70.6°W | 144 mi NE of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands |
| Sep 13 18:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 24.0°N 71.2°W | 167 mi NNE of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands |
| Sep 14 00:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 25.3°N 71.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 14 06:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 26.6°N 71.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 14 12:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 27.8°N 70.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 14 18:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 29.0°N 70.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 15 00:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 30.1°N 70.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 15 06:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 31.4°N 70.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 15 12:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 32.8°N 69.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 15 18:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 34.2°N 69.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 16 00:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 35.7°N 69.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 16 06:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 37.3°N 68.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 16 12:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 39.0°N 67.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 16 18:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 40.8°N 66.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 17 00:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 43.0°N 65.7°W | 155 mi SW of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Sep 17 06:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 45.2°N 64.7°W | 13 mi NW of Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Sep 17 12:00 | TS extratropical | 69 mph | — | 46.5°N 63.5°W | 16 mi ENE of Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada |
| Sep 17 18:00 | TS extratropical | 69 mph | — | 47.4°N 62.0°W | near Cap-aux-Meules, Quebec, Canada |
| Sep 18 00:00 | TS extratropical | 69 mph | — | 47.7°N 60.3°W | 76 mi ENE of Cap-aux-Meules, Quebec, Canada |
| Sep 18 06:00 | TS extratropical | 63 mph | — | 47.9°N 58.3°W | 74 mi SSW of Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada |
| Sep 18 12:00 | TS extratropical | 58 mph | — | 48.0°N 56.0°W | 66 mi SSW of Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada |
| Sep 18 18:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | — | 48.1°N 53.4°W | 49 mi NW of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada |
| Sep 19 00:00 | TS extratropical | 40 mph | — | 48.2°N 50.5°W | 111 mi ENE of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada |
| Sep 19 06:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | — | 48.4°N 46.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 19 12:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | — | 48.8°N 42.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 19 18:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | — | 49.5°N 37.0°W | open ocean |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
No — the NOAA best-track record shows no landfall for 1940 Nova Scotia Hurricane. Its closest approach to a major city was 65 miles from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
At its peak on September 13, 1940, 1940 Nova Scotia Hurricane was a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 98 mph (157 km/h).
12.0 days, from September 7, 1940 to September 19, 1940, including 114 hours at hurricane strength. It travelled about 4,585 miles.
The 6-hourly positions, winds, pressure and wind radii are available as CSV on this page (track.csv) — they come from the NOAA National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database and are in the public domain.
This site was built by Digital Dynamics Kft.
This archive is our own work, built from openly available data — the NOAA best-track records, the replay engine, the wind-field rendering and the map tiles served from our own servers in the European Union. If your business generates data — measurements, machines, orders, customers — we are happy to turn it into a clear, interactive interface.
But this is not all we build:
Or anything else that can be programmed — just get in touch.
See our work → or write: info@digitaldynamics.hu