Hurricane Carla (1961)

Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · September 3–18, 1961

Peak wind

144 mph

232 km/h · Sep 11

Peak category

Cat 4

Saffir–Simpson

Lowest pressure

927 mb

Landfalls

Texas

Lifetime

14.5 d

Sep 3 – Sep 18

Distance

5,283 mi

8,501 km

ACE

27.3

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 Carla

Hurricane Carla (1961) was a Category 4 hurricane of the 1961 Atlantic season. It formed on September 3, 1961, 178 mi NW of Cartagena, Colombia, reached its peak of 144 mph (232 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 927 mb on September 11, 1961, and made landfall 26 mi SSE of Port Lavaca, Texas on September 11, 1961 as a Category 4 hurricane (144 mph). It rapidly intensified by 34 mph in 24 hours (to 86 mph on September 6, 1961). The storm lasted 14.5 days and travelled about 5,283 miles (8,501 km).

02 · Intensity

Wind and pressure, hour by hour

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

03 · Impact

Landfall and cities in the path

Landfall (UTC)	Where	Strength	Pressure
September 11, 1961 · 20:00 UTC	26 mi SSE of Port Lavaca, Texas	Cat 4 144 mph	931 mb

Closest approach to major cities

City	Distance to center	When (UTC)	Storm strength then
Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico	48 mi	Sep 7 · 16:00 UTC	Cat 2 96 mph
Corpus Christi, Texas	70 mi	Sep 11 · 19:00 UTC	Cat 4 144 mph
Austin, Texas	13 mi	Sep 12 · 11:00 UTC	TS 61 mph
Fort Worth, Texas	direct hit	Sep 12 · 23:00 UTC	TS 41 mph
Arlington, Texas	19 mi	Sep 12 · 23:00 UTC	TS 41 mph
Dallas, Texas	35 mi	Sep 13 · 00:00 UTC	TS 40 mph
Plano, Texas	38 mi	Sep 13 · 01:00 UTC	TS 40 mph
Tulsa, Oklahoma	60 mi	Sep 13 · 12:00 UTC	TS 40 mph
St. Louis, Missouri	19 mi	Sep 14 · 01:00 UTC	TD 35 mph
Chicago, Illinois	36 mi	Sep 14 · 05:00 UTC	TD 35 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 60 positions

Date · UTC	Status	Wind	Pressure	Position	Nearest place
Sep 3 12:00	TD	29 mph	—	12.5°N 77.0°W	178 mi NW of Cartagena, Colombia
Sep 3 18:00	TD	35 mph	—	12.9°N 78.0°W	open ocean
Sep 4 00:00	TD	35 mph	—	13.3°N 78.8°W	open ocean
Sep 4 06:00	TD	35 mph	1007 mb	13.7°N 79.5°W	167 mi ENE of San Andrés, Colombia
Sep 4 12:00	TD	35 mph	1006 mb	14.2°N 80.0°W	160 mi NE of San Andrés, Colombia
Sep 4 18:00	TS	40 mph	1004 mb	14.9°N 80.5°W	180 mi NNE of San Andrés, Colombia
Sep 5 00:00	TS	46 mph	1002 mb	15.5°N 81.2°W	178 mi NE of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Sep 5 06:00	TS	46 mph	999 mb	15.9°N 82.1°W	155 mi NNE of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Sep 5 12:00	TS	52 mph	998 mb	16.3°N 82.7°W	124 mi ENE of Brus Laguna, Honduras
Sep 5 18:00	TS	58 mph	993 mb	16.9°N 83.1°W	121 mi NE of Brus Laguna, Honduras
Sep 6 00:00	TS	63 mph	990 mb	17.4°N 83.6°W	128 mi NNE of Brus Laguna, Honduras
Sep 6 06:00	Cat 1	75 mph	987 mb	18.1°N 84.3°W	156 mi NNE of Iriona, Honduras
Sep 6 12:00	Cat 1	86 mph	982 mb	18.7°N 85.1°W	173 mi SE of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 6 18:00	Cat 1	86 mph	981 mb	19.1°N 85.6°W	130 mi SE of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 7 00:00	Cat 1	86 mph	978 mb	19.5°N 85.8°W	101 mi SE of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 7 06:00	Cat 1	86 mph	982 mb	20.2°N 85.9°W	71 mi ESE of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 7 12:00	Cat 1	92 mph	—	21.0°N 85.9°W	62 mi E of Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 7 18:00	Cat 2	98 mph	975 mb	21.7°N 86.3°W	51 mi NE of Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 8 00:00	Cat 2	104 mph	972 mb	22.2°N 87.1°W	73 mi NNW of Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 8 06:00	Cat 2	109 mph	966 mb	22.8°N 87.8°W	117 mi N of Tizimín, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 8 12:00	Cat 3	115 mph	961 mb	23.2°N 88.4°W	143 mi N of Tizimín, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 8 18:00	Cat 3	115 mph	961 mb	23.4°N 89.0°W	152 mi NNE of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 9 00:00	Cat 3	121 mph	954 mb	23.7°N 89.7°W	167 mi N of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 9 06:00	Cat 3	121 mph	955 mb	24.1°N 90.3°W	open ocean
Sep 9 12:00	Cat 3	121 mph	954 mb	24.6°N 90.9°W	open ocean
Sep 9 18:00	Cat 3	127 mph	947 mb	25.1°N 91.7°W	open ocean
Sep 10 00:00	Cat 4	132 mph	938 mb	25.5°N 92.5°W	open ocean
Sep 10 06:00	Cat 4	132 mph	934 mb	26.0°N 93.2°W	open ocean
Sep 10 12:00	Cat 4	138 mph	942 mb	26.2°N 93.8°W	open ocean
Sep 10 18:00	Cat 4	138 mph	937 mb	26.5°N 94.4°W	179 mi SSE of Freeport, Texas
Sep 11 00:00	Cat 4	138 mph	936 mb	26.9°N 95.0°W	144 mi S of Freeport, Texas
Sep 11 06:00	Cat 4	144 mph	927 mb	27.2°N 95.7°W	101 mi SE of Rockport, Texas
Sep 11 12:00	Cat 4	144 mph	—	27.6°N 96.0°W	71 mi ESE of Rockport, Texas
Sep 11 18:00	Cat 4	144 mph	931 mb	28.1°N 96.3°W	41 mi SSE of Port Lavaca, Texas
Sep 11 20:00	Cat 4 LANDFALL	144 mph	931 mb	28.3°N 96.4°W	26 mi SSE of Port Lavaca, Texas
Sep 12 00:00	Cat 3	115 mph	940 mb	28.7°N 96.7°W	near Port Lavaca, Texas
Sep 12 06:00	Cat 1	81 mph	955 mb	29.5°N 97.2°W	39 mi SE of Lockhart, Texas
Sep 12 12:00	TS	58 mph	974 mb	30.5°N 97.6°W	near Round Rock, Texas
Sep 12 18:00	TS	46 mph	977 mb	31.7°N 97.6°W	20 mi NNE of Gatesville, Texas
Sep 13 00:00	TS	40 mph	980 mb	32.9°N 97.4°W	13 mi NNW of Fort Worth, Texas
Sep 13 06:00	TS	40 mph	985 mb	34.3°N 97.0°W	12 mi NE of Ardmore, Oklahoma
Sep 13 12:00	TS extratropical	40 mph	988 mb	35.5°N 95.3°W	18 mi SSE of Muskogee, Oklahoma
Sep 13 18:00	TS extratropical	40 mph	991 mb	36.5°N 93.5°W	19 mi WSW of Branson, Missouri
Sep 14 00:00	TD extratropical	35 mph	992 mb	38.0°N 90.5°W	16 mi NNW of Farmington, Missouri
Sep 14 06:00	TD extratropical	35 mph	993 mb	42.1°N 86.6°W	26 mi NW of Niles, Michigan
Sep 14 12:00	TD extratropical	29 mph	993 mb	45.7°N 82.8°W	48 mi S of Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada
Sep 14 18:00	TD extratropical	29 mph	992 mb	47.2°N 79.8°W	21 mi S of Temiskaming Shores, Ontario, Canada
Sep 15 00:00	TD extratropical	29 mph	991 mb	48.7°N 76.5°W	73 mi NE of Val-d'Or, Quebec, Canada
Sep 15 06:00	TD extratropical	29 mph	990 mb	51.2°N 72.2°W	160 mi N of Dolbeau-Mistassini, Quebec, Canada
Sep 15 12:00	TD extratropical	29 mph	986 mb	53.7°N 68.0°W	open ocean
Sep 15 18:00	TD extratropical	35 mph	983 mb	56.8°N 65.7°W	open ocean
Sep 16 00:00	TD extratropical	35 mph	980 mb	59.5°N 65.0°W	open ocean
Sep 16 06:00	TS extratropical	40 mph	976 mb	61.0°N 64.5°W	open ocean
Sep 16 12:00	TS extratropical	40 mph	974 mb	62.0°N 63.0°W	open ocean
Sep 16 18:00	TS extratropical	46 mph	972 mb	63.3°N 61.5°W	open ocean
Sep 17 00:00	TS extratropical	46 mph	974 mb	65.0°N 60.0°W	open ocean
Sep 17 06:00	TS extratropical	40 mph	976 mb	66.4°N 60.3°W	open ocean
Sep 17 12:00	TD extratropical	35 mph	980 mb	67.0°N 59.5°W	open ocean
Sep 17 18:00	TD extratropical	29 mph	984 mb	67.5°N 58.0°W	open ocean
Sep 18 00:00	TD extratropical	23 mph	988 mb	68.0°N 54.0°W	open ocean

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

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When and where did Carla make landfall?

Carla made landfall once: 26 mi SSE of Port Lavaca, Texas on September 11, 1961 at 20:00 UTC, as a Category 4 hurricane with 144 mph winds.

What category was Carla?

At its peak on September 11, 1961, Carla was a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 144 mph (232 km/h) and a central pressure of 927 mb. At its first landfall it was a Category 4 hurricane.

How long did Carla last?

14.5 days, from September 3, 1961 to September 18, 1961, including 150 hours at hurricane strength (90 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 5,283 miles.

Where can I download the track data for Carla?

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 Carla

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1956	Tropical Storm Carla Atlantic	TS 69 mph	—
1961	Hurricane Carla · this page Atlantic	Cat 4 144 mph	Texas

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

Strongest storms of 1961

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1961	Hurricane Hattie Atlantic	Cat 5 167 mph	Belize	→
1961	Hurricane Esther Atlantic	Cat 5 161 mph	Massachusetts, Maine	→
1961	Hurricane Betsy Atlantic	Cat 4 132 mph	—	→
1961	Hurricane Frances Atlantic	Cat 4 132 mph	Guadeloupe, Dominican Republic	→
1961	Hurricane Anna Atlantic	Cat 2 104 mph	Honduras, Belize	→
1961	Hurricane Debbie Atlantic	Cat 1 92 mph	Cabo Verde	→
1961	Hurricane Iva Eastern Pacific	Cat 1 86 mph	—	→
1961	Hurricane Tara Eastern Pacific	Cat 1 86 mph	—	→

See every 1961 storm on one map →

Background reading: Hurricane Carla on Wikipedia.

← Previous Atlantic stormHurricane Betsy (1961)Next Atlantic storm →Hurricane Debbie (1961)

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