Hurricane Ella (1970)

Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · September 8–13, 1970

Peak wind
127 mph
204 km/h · Sep 12
Peak category
Cat 3
Saffir–Simpson
Lowest pressure
962 mb
Landfalls
2
Tamaulipas, Mexico · Quintana Roo, Mexico
Lifetime
4.8 d
Sep 8 – Sep 13
Distance
1,343 mi
2,161 km
ACE
5.3
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 Ella

Hurricane Ella (1970) was a Category 3 hurricane of the 1970 Atlantic season. It formed on September 8, 1970, 128 mi NNE of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, reached its peak of 127 mph (204 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 962 mb on September 12, 1970, and made landfall 2 times — first near Puerto Aventuras, Quintana Roo, Mexico on September 10, 1970 as a tropical storm (46 mph). Later landfalls: 33 mi ENE of Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas, Mexico on September 12, 1970 as a Category 3 hurricane (127 mph). It rapidly intensified by 41 mph in 24 hours (to 81 mph on September 11, 1970). The storm lasted 4.8 days and travelled about 1,343 miles (2,161 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)WhereStrengthPressure
September 10, 1970 · 10:00 UTCnear Puerto Aventuras, Quintana Roo, MexicoTS 46 mph—
September 12, 1970 · 10:00 UTC33 mi ENE of Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas, MexicoCat 3 127 mph962 mb

Closest approach to major cities

CityDistance to centerWhen (UTC)Storm strength then
Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico53 miSep 10 · 11:00 UTCTS 43 mph
Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico42 miSep 12 · 19:00 UTCTS 59 mph
Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico51 miSep 13 · 06:00 UTCTD 29 mph
Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico68 miSep 13 · 06:00 UTCTD 29 mph
Guadalupe, Nuevo León, Mexico49 miSep 13 · 06:00 UTCTD 29 mph
Ciudad Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico55 miSep 13 · 06:00 UTCTD 29 mph
Ciudad General Escobedo, Nuevo León, Mexico59 miSep 13 · 06:00 UTCTD 29 mph
San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico55 miSep 13 · 06:00 UTCTD 29 mph
Ciudad Benito Juárez, Nuevo León, Mexico45 miSep 13 · 06:00 UTCTD 29 mph
Santa Catarina, Nuevo León, Mexico55 miSep 13 · 06:00 UTCTD 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 22 positions

Date · UTCStatusWindPressurePositionNearest place
Sep 8 12:00TD 29 mph1009 mb15.8°N 82.8°W112 mi E of Brus Laguna, Honduras
Sep 8 18:00TD 29 mph1009 mb16.2°N 83.1°W97 mi ENE of Brus Laguna, Honduras
Sep 9 00:00TD 29 mph1008 mb16.6°N 83.5°W88 mi NE of Brus Laguna, Honduras
Sep 9 06:00TD 29 mph1007 mb17.0°N 84.2°W88 mi NNE of Brus Laguna, Honduras
Sep 9 12:00TD 29 mph1007 mb17.6°N 84.9°W114 mi N of Iriona, Honduras
Sep 9 18:00TD 35 mph—18.4°N 85.5°W165 mi ENE of San Pedro, Belize
Sep 10 00:00TS 40 mph1005 mb19.2°N 86.1°W105 mi SSE of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 10 06:00TS 46 mph—20.0°N 86.8°W36 mi SSE of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 10 10:00TS LANDFALL 46 mph—20.5°N 87.3°W17 mi WSW of Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 10 12:00TS 40 mph1004 mb20.8°N 87.6°W24 mi ENE of Chemax, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 10 18:00TS 58 mph997 mb22.0°N 89.0°W65 mi NE of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 11 00:00Cat 1 75 mph993 mb23.0°N 90.8°W139 mi NNW of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 11 06:00Cat 1 75 mph994 mb23.6°N 92.6°Wopen ocean
Sep 11 12:00Cat 1 81 mph—23.9°N 94.2°Wopen ocean
Sep 11 18:00Cat 1 86 mph984 mb24.0°N 95.5°W181 mi SE of Heroica Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 12 00:00Cat 2 98 mph973 mb23.9°N 96.5°W108 mi E of Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 12 06:00Cat 3 115 mph967 mb23.8°N 97.4°W51 mi E of Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 12 10:00Cat 3 LANDFALL 127 mph962 mb23.9°N 97.7°W33 mi ENE of Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 12 12:00Cat 1 92 mph—23.9°N 98.0°W16 mi NE of Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 12 18:00TS 63 mph—24.2°N 98.7°W42 mi NE of Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 13 00:00TS 40 mph—24.6°N 99.3°W24 mi SE of Linares, Nuevo León, Mexico
Sep 13 06:00TD 29 mph—25.0°N 100.0°W17 mi SW of Montemorelos, Nuevo León, Mexico

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

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When and where did Ella make landfall?

Ella made landfall 2 times: near Puerto Aventuras, Quintana Roo, Mexico on September 10, 1970 at 10:00 UTC, as a tropical storm with 46 mph winds; 33 mi ENE of Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas, Mexico on September 12, 1970 at 10:00 UTC, as a Category 3 hurricane with 127 mph winds.

What category was Ella?

At its peak on September 12, 1970, Ella was a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 127 mph (204 km/h) and a central pressure of 962 mb. At its first landfall it was a tropical storm.

How long did Ella last?

4.8 days, from September 8, 1970 to September 13, 1970, including 42 hours at hurricane strength (6 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 1,343 miles.

Where can I download the track data for Ella?

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.

We build live, data-driven sites like this one

This archive is our own work, built from openly available data — the NOAA best-track records, the replay engine, the wind-field rendering and the map tiles served from our own servers in the European Union. If your business generates data — measurements, machines, orders, customers — we are happy to turn it into a clear, interactive interface.

But this is not all we build:

  • online shops and websites, with a design of your own
  • SaaS products and ERP systems
  • mobile apps for Android and iPhone
  • data collection, automation and map-based visualization

Or anything else that can be programmed — just get in touch.

See our work → or write: info@digitaldynamics.hu
digitaldynamics.hu Preview of the digitaldynamics.hu website