Hurricane Carmen (1974)

Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · August 29 – September 10, 1974

Peak wind

155 mph

250 km/h · Sep 2

Peak category

Cat 4

Saffir–Simpson

Lowest pressure

928 mb

Landfalls

Quintana Roo, Mexico · Louisiana

Lifetime

12.3 d

Aug 29 – Sep 10

Distance

3,516 mi

5,658 km

ACE

25.4

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 Carmen

Hurricane Carmen (1974) was a Category 4 hurricane of the 1974 Atlantic season. It formed on August 29, 1974, 308 mi NE of Bridgetown, Barbados, reached its peak of 155 mph (250 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 928 mb on September 2, 1974, and made landfall 5 times — first at 17.6°N, 82.4°W on September 1, 1974 as a Category 3 hurricane (121 mph). Later landfalls: 40 mi E of Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico on September 2, 1974 as a Category 4 hurricane (155 mph); near Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico on September 2, 1974 as a Category 4 hurricane (144 mph); 22 mi SW of Franklin, Louisiana on September 8, 1974 as a Category 3 hurricane (115 mph); and more. It rapidly intensified by 58 mph in 24 hours (to 150 mph on September 2, 1974). The storm lasted 12.3 days and travelled about 3,516 miles (5,658 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 1, 1974 · 09:00 UTC	at 17.6°N, 82.4°W	Cat 3 121 mph	960 mb
September 2, 1974 · 11:00 UTC	40 mi E of Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico	Cat 4 155 mph	933 mb
September 2, 1974 · 14:00 UTC	near Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico	Cat 4 144 mph	956 mb
September 8, 1974 · 09:00 UTC	22 mi SW of Franklin, Louisiana	Cat 3 115 mph	952 mb
September 8, 1974 · 11:00 UTC	15 mi SSE of Abbeville, Louisiana	Cat 3 121 mph	948 mb

Closest approach to major cities

City	Distance to center	When (UTC)	Storm strength then
Kingston, Jamaica	63 mi	Aug 31 · 15:00 UTC	Cat 1 83 mph
New Kingston, Jamaica	64 mi	Aug 31 · 15:00 UTC	Cat 1 83 mph
Baton Rouge, Louisiana	66 mi	Sep 8 · 11:00 UTC	Cat 3 121 mph
Lafayette, Louisiana	19 mi	Sep 8 · 12:00 UTC	Cat 2 104 mph
Beaumont, Texas	53 mi	Sep 9 · 03:00 UTC	TS 43 mph
Waco, Texas	21 mi	Sep 10 · 03:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Round Rock, Texas	55 mi	Sep 10 · 05:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Austin, Texas	71 mi	Sep 10 · 06:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Killeen, Texas	13 mi	Sep 10 · 06:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Abilene, Texas	66 mi	Sep 10 · 12:00 UTC	TD 29 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 56 positions

Date · UTC	Status	Wind	Pressure	Position	Nearest place
Aug 29 06:00	TD	35 mph	1011 mb	15.6°N 55.8°W	open ocean
Aug 29 12:00	TD	35 mph	1011 mb	15.8°N 58.0°W	open ocean
Aug 29 18:00	TD	35 mph	—	16.0°N 60.5°W	54 mi ESE of Saint-François, Guadeloupe
Aug 30 00:00	TD	35 mph	—	16.2°N 63.1°W	80 mi SSW of Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis
Aug 30 06:00	TS	40 mph	1006 mb	16.4°N 65.5°W	104 mi SSW of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Aug 30 12:00	TS	46 mph	—	16.5°N 67.7°W	116 mi SSW of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
Aug 30 18:00	TS	46 mph	1001 mb	16.6°N 70.0°W	118 mi S of Baní, Dominican Republic
Aug 31 00:00	TS	52 mph	1000 mb	16.7°N 72.3°W	99 mi SSW of Pedernales, Dominican Republic
Aug 31 06:00	TS	63 mph	—	16.8°N 74.3°W	103 mi SSW of Les Cayes, Haiti
Aug 31 12:00	Cat 1	81 mph	988 mb	17.0°N 76.0°W	87 mi SE of Kingston, Jamaica
Aug 31 18:00	Cat 1	86 mph	988 mb	17.2°N 77.9°W	64 mi SSW of Mandeville, Jamaica
Sep 1 00:00	Cat 1	92 mph	986 mb	17.3°N 79.8°W	117 mi SW of Negril, Jamaica
Sep 1 06:00	Cat 2	104 mph	972 mb	17.5°N 81.5°W	124 mi S of George Town, Cayman Islands
Sep 1 09:00	Cat 3 LANDFALL	121 mph	960 mb	17.6°N 82.4°W	135 mi SSW of George Town, Cayman Islands
Sep 1 12:00	Cat 3	121 mph	960 mb	17.7°N 83.2°W	159 mi NNE of Brus Laguna, Honduras
Sep 1 18:00	Cat 3	115 mph	967 mb	17.8°N 84.7°W	129 mi NNE of Iriona, Honduras
Sep 2 00:00	Cat 4	150 mph	933 mb	18.0°N 85.9°W	136 mi E of San Pedro, Belize
Sep 2 06:00	Cat 4	155 mph	928 mb	18.2°N 86.9°W	73 mi ENE of San Pedro, Belize
Sep 2 11:00	Cat 4 LANDFALL	155 mph	933 mb	18.5°N 87.7°W	40 mi E of Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 2 12:00	Cat 4	150 mph	935 mb	18.6°N 88.0°W	21 mi ENE of Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 2 14:00	Cat 4 LANDFALL	144 mph	956 mb	18.6°N 88.2°W	near Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 2 18:00	Cat 2	104 mph	—	18.8°N 88.8°W	28 mi WNW of Bacalar, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 3 00:00	TS	63 mph	—	19.1°N 89.3°W	59 mi SW of José María Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 3 06:00	TS	52 mph	—	19.4°N 89.7°W	61 mi ESE of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 3 12:00	TS	52 mph	—	19.6°N 90.1°W	32 mi ESE of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 3 18:00	TS	58 mph	998 mb	19.8°N 90.4°W	near Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 4 00:00	TS	58 mph	996 mb	19.9°N 90.6°W	near Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 4 06:00	TS	58 mph	999 mb	20.0°N 90.8°W	21 mi WNW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 4 12:00	TS	63 mph	993 mb	20.2°N 91.0°W	40 mi NW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 4 18:00	TS	63 mph	991 mb	20.5°N 91.1°W	59 mi NW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 5 00:00	TS	58 mph	996 mb	20.7°N 91.0°W	67 mi NNW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 5 06:00	TS	63 mph	992 mb	20.9°N 90.9°W	62 mi WNW of Maxcanú, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 5 12:00	Cat 1	75 mph	985 mb	21.2°N 90.8°W	61 mi WNW of Hunucmá, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 5 18:00	Cat 1	75 mph	983 mb	21.5°N 90.7°W	63 mi WNW of Hunucmá, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 6 00:00	Cat 1	75 mph	983 mb	21.9°N 90.6°W	74 mi NW of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 6 06:00	Cat 2	98 mph	971 mb	22.3°N 90.5°W	89 mi NW of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 6 12:00	Cat 2	104 mph	969 mb	22.9°N 90.5°W	124 mi NNW of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 6 18:00	Cat 2	104 mph	—	23.7°N 90.4°W	174 mi NNW of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 7 00:00	Cat 2	104 mph	967 mb	24.6°N 90.3°W	open ocean
Sep 7 06:00	Cat 2	109 mph	958 mb	25.6°N 90.3°W	open ocean
Sep 7 12:00	Cat 3	121 mph	950 mb	26.6°N 90.4°W	open ocean
Sep 7 18:00	Cat 3	127 mph	943 mb	27.7°N 90.6°W	131 mi S of Houma, Louisiana
Sep 7 21:00	Cat 4	132 mph	937 mb	28.2°N 90.7°W	96 mi S of Houma, Louisiana
Sep 8 00:00	Cat 3	121 mph	946 mb	28.6°N 90.9°W	70 mi S of Houma, Louisiana
Sep 8 06:00	Cat 3	115 mph	952 mb	29.3°N 91.5°W	33 mi SSW of Morgan City, Louisiana
Sep 8 09:00	Cat 3 LANDFALL	115 mph	952 mb	29.6°N 91.8°W	28 mi S of New Iberia, Louisiana
Sep 8 11:00	Cat 3 LANDFALL	121 mph	948 mb	29.8°N 92.0°W	15 mi SSE of Abbeville, Louisiana
Sep 8 12:00	Cat 2	104 mph	948 mb	30.0°N 92.2°W	near Abbeville, Louisiana
Sep 8 18:00	Cat 1	75 mph	963 mb	30.5°N 92.8°W	21 mi NNW of Jennings, Louisiana
Sep 9 00:00	TS	52 mph	987 mb	30.8°N 93.6°W	19 mi W of DeRidder, Louisiana
Sep 9 06:00	TD	35 mph	—	30.9°N 94.4°W	36 mi SSE of Lufkin, Texas
Sep 9 12:00	TD	29 mph	1004 mb	31.0°N 95.1°W	32 mi SW of Lufkin, Texas
Sep 9 18:00	TD	29 mph	1007 mb	31.1°N 95.6°W	26 mi N of Huntsville, Texas
Sep 10 00:00	TD	29 mph	—	31.2°N 96.5°W	37 mi NNW of Bryan, Texas
Sep 10 06:00	TD	29 mph	—	31.3°N 97.7°W	13 mi N of Killeen, Texas
Sep 10 12:00	TD	29 mph	—	31.8°N 98.9°W	near Brownwood, Texas

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

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When and where did Carmen make landfall?

Carmen made landfall 5 times: at 17.6°N, 82.4°W on September 1, 1974 at 09:00 UTC, as a Category 3 hurricane with 121 mph winds; 40 mi E of Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico on September 2, 1974 at 11:00 UTC, as a Category 4 hurricane with 155 mph winds; near Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico on September 2, 1974 at 14:00 UTC, as a Category 4 hurricane with 144 mph winds; 22 mi SW of Franklin, Louisiana on September 8, 1974 at 09:00 UTC, as a Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds; 15 mi SSE of Abbeville, Louisiana on September 8, 1974 at 11:00 UTC, as a Category 3 hurricane with 121 mph winds.

What category was Carmen?

At its peak on September 2, 1974, Carmen was a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph (250 km/h) and a central pressure of 928 mb. At its first landfall it was a Category 3 hurricane.

How long did Carmen last?

12.3 days, from August 29, 1974 to September 10, 1974, including 144 hours at hurricane strength (57 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 3,516 miles.

Where can I download the track data for Carmen?

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

Strongest storms of 1974

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1974	Hurricane Maggie Eastern Pacific	Cat 4 138 mph	—	→
1974	Hurricane Becky Atlantic	Cat 4 132 mph	—	→
1974	Hurricane Connie Eastern Pacific	Cat 3 127 mph	—	→
1974	Hurricane Ione Eastern Pacific	Cat 3 115 mph	—	→
1974	Hurricane Orlene Eastern Pacific	Cat 2 104 mph	—	→
1974	Hurricane Fifi Atlantic	Cat 2 98 mph	Belize	→
1974	Hurricane Gertrude Atlantic	Cat 2 98 mph	—	→
1974	Hurricane Gretchen Eastern Pacific	Cat 2 98 mph	—	→

See every 1974 storm on one map →

Background reading: Hurricane Carmen on Wikipedia.

← Previous Atlantic stormHurricane Becky (1974)Next Atlantic storm →Tropical Storm Dolly (1974)

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