Hurricane Brenda (1973)

Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · August 18–22, 1973

Peak wind

92 mph

148 km/h · Aug 21

Peak category

Cat 1

Saffir–Simpson

Lowest pressure

977 mb

Landfalls

Campeche, Mexico · Quintana Roo, Mexico

Lifetime

3.8 d

Aug 18 – Aug 22

Distance

732 mi

1,178 km

ACE

4.7

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 Brenda

Hurricane Brenda (1973) was a Category 1 hurricane of the 1973 Atlantic season. It formed on August 18, 1973, 122 mi SW of Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, Cuba, reached its peak of 92 mph (148 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 977 mb on August 21, 1973, and made landfall 2 times — first near Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico on August 19, 1973 as a tropical storm (69 mph). Later landfalls: 25 mi W of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico on August 21, 1973 as a Category 1 hurricane (92 mph). It rapidly intensified by 40 mph in 24 hours (to 92 mph on August 21, 1973). The storm lasted 3.8 days and travelled about 732 miles (1,178 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
August 19, 1973 · 00:00 UTC	near Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico	TS 69 mph	992 mb
August 21, 1973 · 10:00 UTC	25 mi W of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico	Cat 1 92 mph	—

Closest approach to major cities

City	Distance to center	When (UTC)	Storm strength then
Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico	direct hit	Aug 19 · 00:00 UTC	TS 69 mph
Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico	direct hit	Aug 20 · 01:00 UTC	TS 53 mph
Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico	58 mi	Aug 21 · 14:00 UTC	TS 61 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 17 positions

Date · UTC	Status	Wind	Pressure	Position	Nearest place
Aug 18 06:00	TS	40 mph	—	20.6°N 84.1°W	111 mi S of Guane, Pinar del Río, Cuba
Aug 18 12:00	TS	52 mph	1003 mb	21.0°N 85.2°W	107 mi E of Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Aug 18 18:00	TS	63 mph	995 mb	21.2°N 86.1°W	48 mi E of Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Aug 19 00:00	TS LANDFALL	69 mph	992 mb	21.2°N 86.8°W	near Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Aug 19 06:00	TS	63 mph	—	21.2°N 87.6°W	36 mi E of Tizimín, Yucatán, Mexico
Aug 19 12:00	TS	58 mph	—	21.1°N 88.4°W	near Espita, Yucatán, Mexico
Aug 19 18:00	TS	52 mph	—	21.1°N 89.0°W	12 mi N of Izamal, Yucatán, Mexico
Aug 20 00:00	TS	52 mph	993 mb	21.1°N 89.5°W	12 mi NE of Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
Aug 20 06:00	TS	58 mph	994 mb	20.7°N 90.3°W	21 mi WNW of Maxcanú, Yucatán, Mexico
Aug 20 12:00	TS	63 mph	—	20.2°N 91.1°W	45 mi WNW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Aug 20 18:00	Cat 1	75 mph	—	19.8°N 91.7°W	71 mi WNW of Champotón, Campeche, Mexico
Aug 21 00:00	Cat 1	92 mph	977 mb	19.5°N 91.8°W	59 mi N of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico
Aug 21 06:00	Cat 1	92 mph	—	19.1°N 92.0°W	33 mi NNW of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico
Aug 21 10:00	Cat 1 LANDFALL	92 mph	—	18.7°N 92.2°W	25 mi W of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico
Aug 21 12:00	TS	69 mph	—	18.5°N 92.2°W	26 mi WSW of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico
Aug 21 18:00	TS	46 mph	—	17.7°N 91.9°W	near Emiliano Zapata, Tabasco, Mexico
Aug 22 00:00	TD	35 mph	—	17.2°N 91.3°W	21 mi SSE of Tenosique, Tabasco, Mexico

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

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When and where did Brenda make landfall?

Brenda made landfall 2 times: near Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico on August 19, 1973 at 00:00 UTC, as a tropical storm with 69 mph winds; 25 mi W of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico on August 21, 1973 at 10:00 UTC, as a Category 1 hurricane with 92 mph winds.

What category was Brenda?

At its peak on August 21, 1973, Brenda was a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 92 mph (148 km/h) and a central pressure of 977 mb. At its first landfall it was a tropical storm.

How long did Brenda last?

3.8 days, from August 18, 1973 to August 22, 1973, including 18 hours at hurricane strength. It travelled about 732 miles.

Where can I download the track data for Brenda?

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.

Related storms

Keep exploring

Every storm named Brenda

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1955	Tropical Storm Brenda Atlantic	TS 69 mph	Louisiana	→
1960	Tropical Storm Brenda Atlantic	TS 69 mph	North Carolina, Florida	→
1964	Tropical Storm Brenda Atlantic	TS 52 mph	Bermuda	→
1968	Hurricane Brenda Atlantic	Cat 1 81 mph	—	→
1973	Hurricane Brenda · this page Atlantic	Cat 1 92 mph	Campeche, Mexico, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Names are recycled every six years unless a storm is so deadly or costly that the name is retired.

Strongest storms of 1973

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1973	Hurricane Ava Eastern Pacific	Cat 5 161 mph	—	→
1973	Hurricane Doreen Eastern Pacific	Cat 4 138 mph	—	→
1973	Hurricane Emily Eastern Pacific	Cat 4 138 mph	—	→
1973	Hurricane Ellen Atlantic	Cat 3 115 mph	—	→
1973	Hurricane Irah Eastern Pacific	Cat 2 109 mph	—	→
1973	Hurricane Katherine Eastern Pacific	Cat 2 98 mph	—	→
1973	Hurricane Florence Eastern Pacific	Cat 1 92 mph	—	→
1973	Hurricane Alice Atlantic	Cat 1 86 mph	Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada	→

See every 1973 storm on one map →

Background reading: Hurricane Brenda on Wikipedia.

← Previous Atlantic stormHurricane Alice (1973)Next Atlantic storm →Tropical Storm Christine (1973)

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