Track map & timeline · Atlantic · August 9–21, 1956
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
Hurricane Betsy (1956) was a Category 3 hurricane of the 1956 Atlantic season. It formed on August 9, 1956, reached its peak of 121 mph (194 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 954 mb on August 14, 1956, and never made landfall. It rapidly intensified by 35 mph in 24 hours (to 104 mph on August 10, 1956). The storm lasted 12.3 days and travelled about 5,244 miles (8,438 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Impact
| City | Distance to center | When (UTC) | Storm strength then |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Juan, Puerto Rico | 25 mi | Aug 12 · 14:00 UTC | Cat 2 96 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 9 06:00 | TS | 58 mph | — | 13.5°N 47.2°W | open ocean |
| Aug 9 12:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 13.7°N 48.8°W | open ocean |
| Aug 9 18:00 | TS | 69 mph | — | 13.9°N 50.2°W | open ocean |
| Aug 10 00:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 14.0°N 51.6°W | open ocean |
| Aug 10 06:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 14.1°N 53.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 10 12:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 14.3°N 54.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 10 18:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | 979 mb | 14.7°N 56.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 11 00:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | — | 15.0°N 57.6°W | open ocean |
| Aug 11 06:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | — | 15.2°N 59.1°W | 127 mi ENE of Le François, Martinique |
| Aug 11 12:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | — | 15.5°N 60.4°W | 63 mi NE of Sainte-Marie, Martinique |
| Aug 11 18:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | 979 mb | 16.0°N 61.8°W | near Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe |
| Aug 12 00:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 16.5°N 63.2°W | 63 mi SSW of Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis |
| Aug 12 06:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 17.1°N 64.5°W | 46 mi SSE of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands |
| Aug 12 12:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 981 mb | 17.9°N 65.9°W | 15 mi ESE of Guayama, Puerto Rico |
| Aug 12 18:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 18.8°N 67.3°W | 27 mi NNW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico |
| Aug 13 00:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 19.8°N 68.7°W | 58 mi NE of Samaná, Dominican Republic |
| Aug 13 06:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | — | 20.9°N 70.0°W | 89 mi NNE of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic |
| Aug 13 12:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | 972 mb | 22.0°N 71.4°W | 57 mi ENE of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands |
| Aug 13 18:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | — | 23.0°N 72.7°W | 89 mi NNW of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands |
| Aug 14 00:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | — | 24.0°N 73.9°W | 186 mi NW of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands |
| Aug 14 06:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | — | 24.9°N 75.0°W | 147 mi E of Nassau, Bahamas |
| Aug 14 12:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | 960 mb | 25.7°N 76.0°W | 95 mi ENE of Nassau, Bahamas |
| Aug 14 18:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | — | 26.5°N 76.7°W | 107 mi NNE of Nassau, Bahamas |
| Aug 15 00:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | 968 mb | 27.2°N 76.9°W | 118 mi ENE of Lucaya, Bahamas |
| Aug 15 06:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | — | 27.8°N 77.0°W | 135 mi NE of Lucaya, Bahamas |
| Aug 15 12:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | 963 mb | 28.3°N 76.7°W | 172 mi NE of Lucaya, Bahamas |
| Aug 15 18:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | — | 28.8°N 76.2°W | open ocean |
| Aug 16 00:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | — | 29.3°N 75.7°W | open ocean |
| Aug 16 06:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 973 mb | 29.9°N 75.2°W | open ocean |
| Aug 16 12:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 30.8°N 74.3°W | open ocean |
| Aug 16 18:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | — | 32.2°N 73.4°W | open ocean |
| Aug 17 00:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | 954 mb | 33.7°N 72.4°W | open ocean |
| Aug 17 06:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | — | 35.1°N 71.2°W | open ocean |
| Aug 17 12:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 36.6°N 69.8°W | open ocean |
| Aug 17 18:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 38.0°N 68.4°W | open ocean |
| Aug 18 00:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 39.5°N 66.7°W | open ocean |
| Aug 18 06:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 40.8°N 64.7°W | open ocean |
| Aug 18 12:00 | TS | 69 mph | — | 41.7°N 62.1°W | open ocean |
| Aug 18 18:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 42.4°N 58.6°W | open ocean |
| Aug 19 00:00 | TS extratropical | 63 mph | — | 42.8°N 55.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 19 06:00 | TS extratropical | 63 mph | — | 43.1°N 51.7°W | open ocean |
| Aug 19 12:00 | TS extratropical | 63 mph | — | 43.2°N 48.6°W | open ocean |
| Aug 19 18:00 | TS extratropical | 58 mph | — | 43.1°N 45.1°W | open ocean |
| Aug 20 00:00 | TS extratropical | 52 mph | — | 42.9°N 41.6°W | open ocean |
| Aug 20 06:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | — | 42.5°N 38.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 20 12:00 | TS extratropical | 40 mph | — | 42.1°N 36.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 20 18:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | — | 42.0°N 34.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 21 00:00 | TD extratropical | 29 mph | — | 42.0°N 32.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 21 06:00 | TD extratropical | 29 mph | — | 42.0°N 31.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 21 12:00 | TD extratropical | 29 mph | — | 42.0°N 30.0°W | open ocean |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
No — the NOAA best-track record shows no landfall for Betsy. Its closest approach to a major city was 25 miles from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
At its peak on August 14, 1956, Betsy was a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 121 mph (194 km/h) and a central pressure of 954 mb.
12.3 days, from August 9, 1956 to August 21, 1956, including 204 hours at hurricane strength (42 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 5,244 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.
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