Hurricane Edith (1971)

Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · September 5–18, 1971

Peak wind

150 mph

241 km/h · Sep 9

Peak category

Cat 4

Saffir–Simpson

Lowest pressure

943 mb

Landfalls

Honduras · Louisiana

Lifetime

12.8 d

Sep 5 – Sep 18

Distance

4,018 mi

6,465 km

ACE

16.9

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 Edith

Hurricane Edith (1971) was a Category 4 hurricane of the 1971 Atlantic season. It formed on September 5, 1971, 175 mi SE of Bridgetown, Barbados, reached its peak of 150 mph (241 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 943 mb on September 9, 1971, and made landfall 3 times — first 41 mi SE of Puerto Lempira, Honduras on September 9, 1971 as a Category 4 hurricane (150 mph). Later landfalls: 14 mi N of Belize City, Belize on September 11, 1971 as a tropical storm (69 mph); 49 mi SSE of Lake Charles, Louisiana on September 16, 1971 as a Category 1 hurricane (92 mph). It rapidly intensified by 58 mph in 24 hours (to 150 mph on September 9, 1971). The storm lasted 12.8 days and travelled about 4,018 miles (6,465 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 9, 1971 · 20:00 UTC	41 mi SE of Puerto Lempira, Honduras	Cat 4 150 mph	943 mb
September 11, 1971 · 04:00 UTC	14 mi N of Belize City, Belize	TS 69 mph	—
September 16, 1971 · 13:00 UTC	49 mi SSE of Lake Charles, Louisiana	Cat 1 92 mph	978 mb

Closest approach to major cities

City	Distance to center	When (UTC)	Storm strength then
Heroica Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico	58 mi	Sep 15 · 13:00 UTC	Cat 1 81 mph
Brownsville, Texas	59 mi	Sep 15 · 13:00 UTC	Cat 1 81 mph
Beaumont, Texas	72 mi	Sep 16 · 11:00 UTC	Cat 1 92 mph
Lafayette, Louisiana	direct hit	Sep 16 · 16:00 UTC	Cat 1 82 mph
Baton Rouge, Louisiana	20 mi	Sep 16 · 19:00 UTC	TS 71 mph
Jackson, Mississippi	37 mi	Sep 17 · 02:00 UTC	TS 48 mph
Tuscaloosa, Alabama	direct hit	Sep 17 · 14:00 UTC	TD 33 mph
Birmingham, Alabama	direct hit	Sep 17 · 18:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Atlanta, Georgia	20 mi	Sep 18 · 08:00 UTC	TD 23 mph
Athens, Georgia	26 mi	Sep 18 · 12:00 UTC	TD 23 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 55 positions

Date · UTC	Status	Wind	Pressure	Position	Nearest place
Sep 5 18:00	TD	29 mph	1010 mb	11.4°N 57.7°W	175 mi SE of Bridgetown, Barbados
Sep 6 00:00	TD	35 mph	—	11.6°N 59.4°W	95 mi ENE of Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago
Sep 6 06:00	TD	35 mph	—	11.8°N 61.1°W	49 mi NNW of Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago
Sep 6 12:00	TD	35 mph	—	12.0°N 62.8°W	97 mi NNE of Carúpano, Venezuela
Sep 6 18:00	TD	35 mph	—	12.2°N 64.4°W	83 mi NNW of Juan Griego, Venezuela
Sep 7 00:00	TD	35 mph	—	12.3°N 66.0°W	126 mi N of Higuerote, Venezuela
Sep 7 06:00	TS	40 mph	—	12.5°N 67.7°W	45 mi ENE of Kralendijk, Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba
Sep 7 12:00	TS	52 mph	1006 mb	12.7°N 69.3°W	34 mi NNW of Bandabou, Curacao
Sep 7 18:00	TS	69 mph	995 mb	12.9°N 70.9°W	63 mi WNW of Noord, Aruba
Sep 8 00:00	TS	69 mph	—	13.1°N 72.4°W	113 mi NNE of Riohacha, Colombia
Sep 8 06:00	Cat 1	75 mph	993 mb	13.3°N 73.9°W	139 mi NNW of Riohacha, Colombia
Sep 8 12:00	Cat 1	81 mph	—	13.6°N 75.6°W	186 mi NNW of Puerto Colombia, Colombia
Sep 8 18:00	Cat 1	92 mph	982 mb	13.8°N 77.2°W	open ocean
Sep 9 00:00	Cat 2	104 mph	973 mb	14.0°N 78.8°W	open ocean
Sep 9 06:00	Cat 3	115 mph	—	14.2°N 80.4°W	142 mi NE of San Andrés, Colombia
Sep 9 12:00	Cat 3	127 mph	960 mb	14.5°N 81.8°W	111 mi ENE of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Sep 9 18:00	Cat 4	150 mph	943 mb	14.8°N 83.0°W	59 mi NNE of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Sep 9 20:00	Cat 4 LANDFALL	150 mph	943 mb	14.9°N 83.3°W	60 mi N of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Sep 10 00:00	Cat 2	104 mph	—	15.1°N 84.0°W	55 mi SE of Brus Laguna, Honduras
Sep 10 06:00	Cat 1	75 mph	—	15.4°N 84.9°W	37 mi SW of Brus Laguna, Honduras
Sep 10 12:00	TS	63 mph	—	15.8°N 85.9°W	10 mi NE of Tocoa, Honduras
Sep 10 18:00	TS	63 mph	—	16.3°N 86.9°W	37 mi N of La Ceiba, Honduras
Sep 11 00:00	TS	69 mph	—	17.1°N 87.8°W	38 mi SE of Belize City, Belize
Sep 11 04:00	TS LANDFALL	69 mph	—	17.7°N 88.2°W	14 mi N of Belize City, Belize
Sep 11 06:00	TS	63 mph	—	18.0°N 88.5°W	near Orange Walk, Belize
Sep 11 12:00	TS	52 mph	—	18.6°N 89.2°W	59 mi W of Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 11 18:00	TS	40 mph	—	19.3°N 89.9°W	55 mi SE of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 12 00:00	TS	46 mph	1000 mb	20.0°N 90.6°W	12 mi NNW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 12 06:00	TS	46 mph	1001 mb	20.7°N 91.4°W	82 mi NW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 12 12:00	TS	46 mph	—	21.4°N 92.1°W	149 mi NW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 12 18:00	TS	46 mph	1000 mb	21.9°N 92.8°W	open ocean
Sep 13 00:00	TS	46 mph	—	22.1°N 93.4°W	open ocean
Sep 13 06:00	TS	52 mph	998 mb	22.5°N 94.2°W	open ocean
Sep 13 12:00	TS	52 mph	—	22.9°N 95.1°W	180 mi ENE of Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 13 18:00	TS	52 mph	999 mb	23.3°N 96.1°W	133 mi ENE of Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 14 00:00	TS	52 mph	—	23.4°N 96.9°W	82 mi ENE of Aldama, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 14 06:00	TS	52 mph	—	23.5°N 97.4°W	54 mi ESE of Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 14 12:00	TS	58 mph	—	23.7°N 97.6°W	39 mi E of Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 14 18:00	TS	63 mph	992 mb	24.0°N 97.5°W	47 mi ENE of Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 15 00:00	TS	69 mph	989 mb	24.3°N 97.4°W	60 mi SE of San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 15 06:00	Cat 1	75 mph	984 mb	24.7°N 97.2°W	60 mi E of San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 15 12:00	Cat 1	81 mph	981 mb	25.3°N 96.8°W	59 mi SE of Heroica Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 15 18:00	Cat 1	81 mph	982 mb	26.2°N 96.2°W	84 mi ENE of Heroica Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 16 00:00	Cat 1	86 mph	979 mb	27.2°N 95.5°W	111 mi ESE of Rockport, Texas
Sep 16 06:00	Cat 1	92 mph	977 mb	28.4°N 94.5°W	65 mi SSE of Galveston, Texas
Sep 16 12:00	Cat 1	92 mph	978 mb	29.4°N 93.2°W	56 mi S of Lake Charles, Louisiana
Sep 16 13:00	Cat 1 LANDFALL	92 mph	978 mb	29.6°N 92.8°W	49 mi SSE of Lake Charles, Louisiana
Sep 16 18:00	Cat 1	75 mph	—	30.5°N 91.6°W	25 mi W of Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Sep 17 00:00	TS	52 mph	—	31.6°N 90.3°W	near Brookhaven, Mississippi
Sep 17 06:00	TS	40 mph	—	32.3°N 89.0°W	18 mi WSW of Meridian, Mississippi
Sep 17 12:00	TD	35 mph	—	33.0°N 87.8°W	20 mi SW of Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Sep 17 18:00	TD	29 mph	—	33.4°N 86.8°W	near Hoover, Alabama
Sep 18 00:00	TD	23 mph	—	33.7°N 85.8°W	near Anniston, Alabama
Sep 18 06:00	TD	23 mph	—	34.0°N 84.8°W	near Dallas, Georgia
Sep 18 12:00	TD	23 mph	—	34.1°N 83.8°W	near Winder, Georgia

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

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When and where did Edith make landfall?

Edith made landfall 3 times: 41 mi SE of Puerto Lempira, Honduras on September 9, 1971 at 20:00 UTC, as a Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds; 14 mi N of Belize City, Belize on September 11, 1971 at 04:00 UTC, as a tropical storm with 69 mph winds; 49 mi SSE of Lake Charles, Louisiana on September 16, 1971 at 13:00 UTC, as a Category 1 hurricane with 92 mph winds.

What category was Edith?

At its peak on September 9, 1971, Edith was a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (241 km/h) and a central pressure of 943 mb. At its first landfall it was a Category 4 hurricane.

How long did Edith last?

12.8 days, from September 5, 1971 to September 18, 1971, including 96 hours at hurricane strength (18 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 4,018 miles.

Where can I download the track data for Edith?

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 Edith

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1955	Hurricane Edith Atlantic	Cat 2 98 mph	—	→
1959	Tropical Storm Edith Atlantic	TS 58 mph	Dominica	→
1963	Hurricane Edith Atlantic	Cat 2 98 mph	Saint Lucia, Dominican Republic	→
1967	Tropical Storm Edith Atlantic	TS 52 mph	—
1971	Hurricane Edith · this page Atlantic	Cat 4 150 mph	Honduras, Louisiana

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

Strongest storms of 1971

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1971	Hurricane Denise Eastern Pacific	Cat 4 138 mph	—	→
1971	Hurricane Irene Atlantic	Cat 3 127 mph	Nicaragua	→
1971	Hurricane Olivia Eastern Pacific	Cat 3 127 mph	Nicaragua	→
1971	Hurricane Priscilla Eastern Pacific	Cat 3 127 mph	—	→
1971	Hurricane Ginger Atlantic	Cat 3 115 mph	North Carolina	→
1971	Hurricane Francesca Eastern Pacific	Cat 3 115 mph	—	→
1971	Hurricane Ilsa Eastern Pacific	Cat 3 115 mph	—	→
1971	Hurricane Monica Eastern Pacific	Cat 3 115 mph	—	→

See every 1971 storm on one map →

Background reading: Hurricane Edith on Wikipedia.

← Previous Atlantic stormHurricane Fern (1971)Next Atlantic storm →Hurricane Ginger (1971)

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