1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane

Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · September 4–21, 1947

Peak wind

144 mph

232 km/h · Sep 14

Peak category

Cat 4

Saffir–Simpson

Lowest pressure

938 mb

Landfalls

Florida · Bahamas

Lifetime

17.3 d

Sep 4 – Sep 21

Distance

5,682 mi

9,143 km

ACE

41.4

storm energy

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

What happened with 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane

The 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane was a Category 4 hurricane of the 1947 Atlantic season. It formed on September 4, 1947, 178 mi W of Dakar, Senegal, reached its peak of 144 mph (232 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 938 mb on September 14, 1947, and made landfall 3 times — first 11 mi NNW of Marsh Harbour, Bahamas on September 16, 1947 as a Category 3 hurricane (121 mph). Later landfalls: near Fort Lauderdale, Florida on September 17, 1947 as a Category 4 hurricane (132 mph); 42 mi SE of New Orleans, Louisiana on September 19, 1947 as a Category 2 hurricane (109 mph). It rapidly intensified by 40 mph in 24 hours (to 98 mph on September 12, 1947). The storm lasted 17.3 days and travelled about 5,682 miles (9,143 km).

02 · Intensity

Wind and pressure, hour by hour

Maximum sustained wind (mph) — hover or drag to scrub the map

03 · Impact

Landfalls and cities in the path

Landfall (UTC)	Where	Strength	Pressure
September 16, 1947 · 19:00 UTC	11 mi NNW of Marsh Harbour, Bahamas	Cat 3 121 mph	954 mb
September 17, 1947 · 17:00 UTC	near Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Cat 4 132 mph	943 mb
September 19, 1947 · 14:00 UTC	42 mi SE of New Orleans, Louisiana	Cat 2 109 mph	966 mb

Closest approach to major cities

City	Distance to center	When (UTC)	Storm strength then
Miami, Florida	23 mi	Sep 17 · 17:00 UTC	Cat 4 132 mph
Fort Lauderdale, Florida	direct hit	Sep 17 · 17:00 UTC	Cat 4 132 mph
Hialeah, Florida	18 mi	Sep 17 · 18:00 UTC	Cat 3 121 mph
Cape Coral, Florida	11 mi	Sep 18 · 04:00 UTC	Cat 2 100 mph
New Orleans, Louisiana	direct hit	Sep 19 · 16:00 UTC	Cat 2 101 mph
Baton Rouge, Louisiana	direct hit	Sep 19 · 20:00 UTC	Cat 1 84 mph
Shreveport, Louisiana	47 mi	Sep 20 · 08:00 UTC	TS 44 mph
Garland, Texas	64 mi	Sep 20 · 16:00 UTC	TD 36 mph
Plano, Texas	64 mi	Sep 20 · 17:00 UTC	TD 35 mph
Springfield, Missouri	38 mi	Sep 21 · 08:00 UTC	TD 23 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

Every official fix 73 positions

Date · UTC	Status	Wind	Pressure	Position	Nearest place
Sep 4 06:00	TD	35 mph	—	14.5°N 20.1°W	178 mi W of Dakar, Senegal
Sep 4 12:00	TD	35 mph	—	14.3°N 21.5°W	141 mi ESE of Praia, Cabo Verde
Sep 4 18:00	TD	35 mph	—	14.2°N 22.8°W	69 mi SE of Praia, Cabo Verde
Sep 5 00:00	TS	40 mph	—	14.1°N 24.0°W	66 mi SSW of Praia, Cabo Verde
Sep 5 06:00	TS	40 mph	—	14.0°N 25.0°W	71 mi SSW of São Filipe, Cabo Verde
Sep 5 12:00	TS	46 mph	—	14.0°N 26.1°W	124 mi WSW of São Filipe, Cabo Verde
Sep 5 18:00	TS	46 mph	—	14.0°N 27.1°W	185 mi WSW of São Filipe, Cabo Verde
Sep 6 00:00	TS	52 mph	—	14.1°N 28.2°W	open ocean
Sep 6 06:00	TS	52 mph	—	14.2°N 29.3°W	open ocean
Sep 6 12:00	TS	58 mph	—	14.3°N 30.4°W	open ocean
Sep 6 18:00	TS	58 mph	—	14.3°N 31.5°W	open ocean
Sep 7 00:00	TS	58 mph	—	14.2°N 32.6°W	open ocean
Sep 7 06:00	TS	58 mph	—	14.1°N 33.7°W	open ocean
Sep 7 12:00	TS	58 mph	—	14.0°N 34.8°W	open ocean
Sep 7 18:00	TS	58 mph	—	13.9°N 36.0°W	open ocean
Sep 8 00:00	TS	58 mph	—	13.8°N 37.2°W	open ocean
Sep 8 06:00	TS	58 mph	—	13.7°N 38.5°W	open ocean
Sep 8 12:00	TS	58 mph	—	13.6°N 39.8°W	open ocean
Sep 8 18:00	TS	58 mph	—	13.5°N 41.0°W	open ocean
Sep 9 00:00	TS	58 mph	—	13.4°N 42.0°W	open ocean
Sep 9 06:00	TS	58 mph	—	13.3°N 42.9°W	open ocean
Sep 9 12:00	TS	58 mph	—	13.2°N 43.8°W	open ocean
Sep 9 18:00	TS	58 mph	—	13.2°N 44.8°W	open ocean
Sep 10 00:00	TS	58 mph	—	13.3°N 45.7°W	open ocean
Sep 10 06:00	TS	58 mph	—	13.5°N 46.7°W	open ocean
Sep 10 12:00	TS	58 mph	—	13.8°N 47.6°W	open ocean
Sep 10 18:00	TS	58 mph	—	14.1°N 48.4°W	open ocean
Sep 11 00:00	TS	58 mph	—	14.4°N 49.0°W	open ocean
Sep 11 06:00	TS	58 mph	—	14.8°N 49.8°W	open ocean
Sep 11 12:00	TS	58 mph	999 mb	15.2°N 51.0°W	open ocean
Sep 11 18:00	TS	63 mph	—	15.7°N 52.5°W	open ocean
Sep 12 00:00	Cat 1	75 mph	—	16.3°N 54.5°W	open ocean
Sep 12 06:00	Cat 1	86 mph	—	16.9°N 56.5°W	open ocean
Sep 12 12:00	Cat 2	98 mph	977 mb	17.6°N 58.4°W	open ocean
Sep 12 18:00	Cat 2	104 mph	—	18.6°N 60.3°W	144 mi NE of Saint John’s, Antigua and Barbuda
Sep 13 00:00	Cat 2	109 mph	—	19.6°N 62.2°W	163 mi NNE of Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis
Sep 13 06:00	Cat 3	115 mph	—	20.6°N 64.0°W	167 mi NNE of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
Sep 13 12:00	Cat 3	121 mph	—	21.4°N 65.4°W	open ocean
Sep 13 18:00	Cat 3	127 mph	952 mb	22.0°N 66.4°W	open ocean
Sep 14 00:00	Cat 4	132 mph	—	22.6°N 67.4°W	open ocean
Sep 14 06:00	Cat 4	138 mph	—	23.2°N 68.4°W	open ocean
Sep 14 12:00	Cat 4	144 mph	—	23.7°N 69.4°W	open ocean
Sep 14 18:00	Cat 4	144 mph	938 mb	24.2°N 70.4°W	open ocean
Sep 15 00:00	Cat 4	144 mph	—	24.8°N 71.6°W	open ocean
Sep 15 06:00	Cat 4	144 mph	—	25.4°N 72.8°W	open ocean
Sep 15 12:00	Cat 4	138 mph	—	26.0°N 73.7°W	open ocean
Sep 15 18:00	Cat 4	132 mph	—	26.5°N 74.5°W	open ocean
Sep 16 00:00	Cat 3	127 mph	951 mb	26.7°N 75.2°W	175 mi NE of Nassau, Bahamas
Sep 16 06:00	Cat 3	127 mph	—	26.8°N 75.7°W	158 mi NE of Nassau, Bahamas
Sep 16 12:00	Cat 3	121 mph	956 mb	26.9°N 76.2°W	146 mi NNE of Nassau, Bahamas
Sep 16 18:00	Cat 3	121 mph	954 mb	26.7°N 76.9°W	110 mi E of Lucaya, Bahamas
Sep 16 19:00	Cat 3 LANDFALL	121 mph	954 mb	26.7°N 77.1°W	97 mi E of Lucaya, Bahamas
Sep 17 00:00	Cat 3	121 mph	—	26.6°N 77.8°W	54 mi E of Lucaya, Bahamas
Sep 17 06:00	Cat 3	127 mph	—	26.5°N 78.6°W	near Lucaya, Bahamas
Sep 17 12:00	Cat 4	132 mph	943 mb	26.3°N 79.5°W	36 mi E of Boca Raton, Florida
Sep 17 17:00	Cat 4 LANDFALL	132 mph	943 mb	26.1°N 80.1°W	near Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Sep 17 18:00	Cat 3	121 mph	951 mb	26.1°N 80.4°W	near Weston, Florida
Sep 18 00:00	Cat 2	104 mph	—	26.2°N 81.3°W	17 mi SSE of Immokalee, Florida
Sep 18 06:00	Cat 2	98 mph	—	26.5°N 82.3°W	22 mi WSW of Cape Coral, Florida
Sep 18 12:00	Cat 2	98 mph	—	26.8°N 83.4°W	62 mi WSW of Venice, Florida
Sep 18 18:00	Cat 2	104 mph	—	27.2°N 84.5°W	118 mi WSW of St. Petersburg, Florida
Sep 19 00:00	Cat 2	109 mph	—	27.7°N 85.7°W	170 mi S of Panama City, Florida
Sep 19 06:00	Cat 2	109 mph	—	28.4°N 87.3°W	130 mi S of Gulf Shores, Alabama
Sep 19 12:00	Cat 2	109 mph	966 mb	29.4°N 89.0°W	67 mi S of Gulfport, Mississippi
Sep 19 14:00	Cat 2 LANDFALL	109 mph	966 mb	29.6°N 89.5°W	42 mi SE of New Orleans, Louisiana
Sep 19 18:00	Cat 1	92 mph	970 mb	30.1°N 90.7°W	13 mi W of Laplace, Louisiana
Sep 20 00:00	TS	69 mph	981 mb	30.8°N 92.2°W	20 mi NNW of Opelousas, Louisiana
Sep 20 06:00	TS	46 mph	987 mb	31.6°N 93.7°W	38 mi WSW of Natchitoches, Louisiana
Sep 20 12:00	TS	40 mph	994 mb	32.7°N 95.2°W	25 mi NNE of Tyler, Texas
Sep 20 18:00	TD	35 mph	996 mb	33.7°N 95.9°W	20 mi W of Paris, Texas
Sep 21 00:00	TD	29 mph	997 mb	35.0°N 95.0°W	43 mi SW of Fort Smith, Arkansas
Sep 21 06:00	TD	23 mph	999 mb	36.4°N 93.3°W	16 mi NW of Harrison, Arkansas
Sep 21 12:00	TD extratropical	23 mph	1000 mb	38.0°N 91.5°W	15 mi ENE of Rolla, Missouri

⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When and where did 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane make landfall?

1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane made landfall 3 times: 11 mi NNW of Marsh Harbour, Bahamas on September 16, 1947 at 19:00 UTC, as a Category 3 hurricane with 121 mph winds; near Fort Lauderdale, Florida on September 17, 1947 at 17:00 UTC, as a Category 4 hurricane with 132 mph winds; 42 mi SE of New Orleans, Louisiana on September 19, 1947 at 14:00 UTC, as a Category 2 hurricane with 109 mph winds.

What category was 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane?

At its peak on September 14, 1947, 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane was a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 144 mph (232 km/h) and a central pressure of 938 mb. At its first landfall it was a Category 3 hurricane.

How long did 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane last?

17.3 days, from September 4, 1947 to September 21, 1947, including 192 hours at hurricane strength (114 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 5,682 miles.

Where can I download the track data for 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane?

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.

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