Track map & timeline · Atlantic · September 2–16, 1961
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 (1961) was a Category 4 hurricane of the 1961 Atlantic season. It formed on September 2, 1961, reached its peak of 132 mph (213 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 945 mb on September 6, 1961, and never made landfall. It rapidly intensified by 41 mph in 24 hours (to 127 mph on September 5, 1961). The storm lasted 14.3 days and travelled about 5,988 miles (9,634 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Timeline
| Date · UTC | Status | Wind | Pressure | Position | Nearest place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2 06:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 13.3°N 41.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 2 12:00 | TS | 69 mph | — | 13.8°N 42.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 2 18:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 14.3°N 43.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 3 00:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 14.8°N 44.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 3 06:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 15.3°N 45.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 3 12:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | 973 mb | 15.9°N 46.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 3 18:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 17.0°N 47.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 4 00:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 981 mb | 18.2°N 49.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 4 06:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 19.4°N 49.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 4 12:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | 986 mb | 20.7°N 50.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 4 18:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | 982 mb | 22.0°N 50.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 5 00:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 23.2°N 50.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 5 06:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | — | 24.4°N 51.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 5 12:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | 957 mb | 25.6°N 52.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 5 18:00 | Cat 3 | 127 mph | — | 27.0°N 52.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 6 00:00 | Cat 4 | 132 mph | 952 mb | 28.5°N 54.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 6 06:00 | Cat 4 | 132 mph | — | 29.9°N 55.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 6 12:00 | Cat 4 | 132 mph | 945 mb | 31.1°N 56.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 6 18:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | 954 mb | 32.3°N 56.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 7 00:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | — | 33.1°N 57.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 7 06:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | — | 33.7°N 57.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 7 12:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | 954 mb | 34.2°N 58.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 7 18:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | — | 34.6°N 58.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 8 00:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | — | 35.0°N 59.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 8 06:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 35.3°N 59.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 8 12:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 35.5°N 59.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 8 18:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | 974 mb | 35.9°N 59.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 9 00:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 36.0°N 59.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 9 06:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 36.3°N 59.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 9 12:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | 978 mb | 36.6°N 58.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 9 18:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 976 mb | 37.2°N 57.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 10 00:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 38.0°N 56.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 10 06:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 38.6°N 54.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 10 12:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 39.2°N 52.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 10 18:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 962 mb | 39.8°N 49.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 11 00:00 | Cat 2 extratropical | 98 mph | — | 40.9°N 45.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 11 06:00 | Cat 2 extratropical | 98 mph | — | 42.8°N 42.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 11 12:00 | Cat 2 extratropical | 98 mph | — | 44.7°N 38.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 11 18:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 92 mph | — | 47.7°N 33.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 12 00:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 86 mph | — | 50.8°N 26.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 12 06:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 81 mph | 956 mb | 54.0°N 22.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 12 12:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 81 mph | 952 mb | 56.5°N 21.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 12 18:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 81 mph | 949 mb | 58.0°N 20.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 13 00:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 81 mph | 946 mb | 58.5°N 19.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 13 06:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 81 mph | 947 mb | 59.0°N 19.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 13 12:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 75 mph | 948 mb | 59.5°N 21.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 13 18:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 75 mph | 952 mb | 60.2°N 23.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 14 00:00 | TS extratropical | 69 mph | 954 mb | 61.0°N 24.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 14 06:00 | TS extratropical | 69 mph | 955 mb | 61.0°N 24.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 14 12:00 | TS extratropical | 69 mph | 956 mb | 61.3°N 25.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 14 18:00 | TS extratropical | 63 mph | 960 mb | 62.0°N 27.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 15 00:00 | TS extratropical | 58 mph | 964 mb | 62.5°N 29.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 15 06:00 | TS extratropical | 58 mph | 968 mb | 62.0°N 30.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 15 12:00 | TS extratropical | 58 mph | 972 mb | 60.0°N 30.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 15 18:00 | TS extratropical | 52 mph | 976 mb | 57.0°N 29.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 16 00:00 | TS extratropical | 46 mph | 980 mb | 55.0°N 27.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 16 06:00 | TS extratropical | 40 mph | 986 mb | 52.5°N 26.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 16 12:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | 992 mb | 51.0°N 23.0°W | open ocean |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
No — the NOAA best-track record shows no landfall for Betsy.
At its peak on September 6, 1961, Betsy was a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 132 mph (213 km/h) and a central pressure of 945 mb.
14.3 days, from September 2, 1961 to September 16, 1961, including 198 hours at hurricane strength (48 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 5,988 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.
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