Hurricane Esther (1961)

Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · September 10–27, 1961

Peak wind

161 mph

259 km/h · Sep 17

Peak category

Cat 5

Saffir–Simpson

Lowest pressure

919 mb

Landfalls

Massachusetts · Maine

Lifetime

16.8 d

Sep 10 – Sep 27

Distance

5,569 mi

8,961 km

ACE

48.7

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 Esther

Hurricane Esther (1961) was a Category 5 hurricane of the 1961 Atlantic season. It formed on September 10, 1961, reached its peak of 161 mph (259 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 919 mb on September 17, 1961, and made landfall 3 times — first 10 mi W of Nantucket, Massachusetts on September 26, 1961 as a tropical storm (58 mph). Later landfalls: near Yarmouth, Massachusetts on September 26, 1961 as a tropical storm (58 mph); near Harpswell Center, Maine on September 26, 1961 as a tropical storm (40 mph). It rapidly intensified by 46 mph in 24 hours (to 155 mph on September 17, 1961). The storm lasted 16.8 days and travelled about 5,569 miles (8,961 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 26, 1961 · 05:00 UTC	10 mi W of Nantucket, Massachusetts	TS 58 mph	—
September 26, 1961 · 06:00 UTC	near Yarmouth, Massachusetts	TS 58 mph	—
September 26, 1961 · 11:00 UTC	near Harpswell Center, Maine	TS 40 mph	1002 mb

Closest approach to major cities

City	Distance to center	When (UTC)	Storm strength then
Providence, Rhode Island	63 mi	Sep 26 · 06:00 UTC	TS 58 mph
New Bedford, Massachusetts	38 mi	Sep 26 · 06:00 UTC	TS 58 mph
Boston, Massachusetts	50 mi	Sep 26 · 07:00 UTC	TS 54 mph
South Boston, Massachusetts	49 mi	Sep 26 · 07:00 UTC	TS 54 mph
Cambridge, Massachusetts	52 mi	Sep 26 · 07:00 UTC	TS 54 mph
Lowell, Massachusetts	63 mi	Sep 26 · 08:00 UTC	TS 51 mph
Manchester, New Hampshire	73 mi	Sep 26 · 09:00 UTC	TS 47 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 70 positions

Date · UTC	Status	Wind	Pressure	Position	Nearest place
Sep 10 12:00	TD	35 mph	—	11.2°N 31.0°W	open ocean
Sep 10 18:00	TS	40 mph	—	11.7°N 32.5°W	open ocean
Sep 11 00:00	TS	46 mph	—	12.4°N 33.9°W	open ocean
Sep 11 06:00	TS	52 mph	—	13.4°N 35.3°W	open ocean
Sep 11 12:00	TS	58 mph	—	14.4°N 36.7°W	open ocean
Sep 11 18:00	TS	63 mph	—	15.2°N 38.1°W	open ocean
Sep 12 00:00	TS	69 mph	—	16.0°N 39.4°W	open ocean
Sep 12 06:00	Cat 1	81 mph	—	16.8°N 40.7°W	open ocean
Sep 12 12:00	Cat 1	92 mph	—	17.6°N 42.0°W	open ocean
Sep 12 18:00	Cat 2	104 mph	967 mb	18.4°N 43.1°W	open ocean
Sep 13 00:00	Cat 2	104 mph	—	19.0°N 44.2°W	open ocean
Sep 13 06:00	Cat 2	104 mph	969 mb	19.4°N 45.3°W	open ocean
Sep 13 12:00	Cat 2	104 mph	—	19.6°N 46.4°W	open ocean
Sep 13 18:00	Cat 2	104 mph	—	19.8°N 47.4°W	open ocean
Sep 14 00:00	Cat 2	104 mph	—	20.0°N 48.4°W	open ocean
Sep 14 06:00	Cat 2	104 mph	962 mb	20.2°N 49.4°W	open ocean
Sep 14 12:00	Cat 2	104 mph	—	20.3°N 50.4°W	open ocean
Sep 14 18:00	Cat 2	104 mph	965 mb	20.5°N 51.3°W	open ocean
Sep 15 00:00	Cat 2	104 mph	—	20.8°N 52.3°W	open ocean
Sep 15 06:00	Cat 2	104 mph	968 mb	21.2°N 53.6°W	open ocean
Sep 15 12:00	Cat 2	104 mph	966 mb	21.6°N 54.9°W	open ocean
Sep 15 18:00	Cat 2	109 mph	—	21.8°N 56.2°W	open ocean
Sep 16 00:00	Cat 2	109 mph	960 mb	22.0°N 57.5°W	open ocean
Sep 16 06:00	Cat 3	121 mph	954 mb	22.3°N 58.9°W	open ocean
Sep 16 12:00	Cat 4	132 mph	948 mb	22.7°N 60.3°W	open ocean
Sep 16 18:00	Cat 4	150 mph	935 mb	23.3°N 61.5°W	open ocean
Sep 17 00:00	Cat 4	155 mph	—	23.8°N 62.7°W	open ocean
Sep 17 06:00	Cat 5	161 mph	924 mb	24.1°N 63.9°W	open ocean
Sep 17 12:00	Cat 5	161 mph	928 mb	24.4°N 65.1°W	open ocean
Sep 17 18:00	Cat 5	161 mph	919 mb	24.9°N 66.2°W	open ocean
Sep 18 00:00	Cat 4	155 mph	928 mb	25.4°N 67.0°W	open ocean
Sep 18 06:00	Cat 4	144 mph	933 mb	26.1°N 67.9°W	open ocean
Sep 18 12:00	Cat 4	138 mph	936 mb	26.9°N 68.7°W	open ocean
Sep 18 18:00	Cat 3	127 mph	943 mb	27.9°N 69.5°W	open ocean
Sep 19 00:00	Cat 3	121 mph	950 mb	29.0°N 70.2°W	open ocean
Sep 19 06:00	Cat 3	121 mph	949 mb	30.0°N 71.0°W	open ocean
Sep 19 12:00	Cat 3	121 mph	943 mb	30.9°N 71.9°W	open ocean
Sep 19 18:00	Cat 3	121 mph	950 mb	31.9°N 72.7°W	open ocean
Sep 20 00:00	Cat 3	121 mph	952 mb	32.9°N 73.1°W	open ocean
Sep 20 06:00	Cat 3	121 mph	956 mb	33.9°N 73.2°W	open ocean
Sep 20 12:00	Cat 3	121 mph	948 mb	35.0°N 73.3°W	open ocean
Sep 20 18:00	Cat 3	115 mph	953 mb	36.3°N 73.0°W	170 mi ESE of Virginia Beach, Virginia
Sep 21 00:00	Cat 2	104 mph	962 mb	37.8°N 72.6°W	146 mi SE of Atlantic City, New Jersey
Sep 21 06:00	Cat 2	98 mph	967 mb	39.2°N 72.2°W	114 mi SSE of Mastic Beach, New York
Sep 21 12:00	Cat 1	86 mph	972 mb	40.4°N 71.5°W	62 mi ESE of Hampton Bays, New York
Sep 21 18:00	Cat 1	86 mph	—	40.8°N 70.7°W	59 mi SSE of New Bedford, Massachusetts
Sep 22 00:00	Cat 1	86 mph	—	40.8°N 70.0°W	61 mi SSE of Hyannis, Massachusetts
Sep 22 06:00	Cat 1	81 mph	—	40.7°N 69.1°W	85 mi SE of Harwich, Massachusetts
Sep 22 12:00	Cat 1	75 mph	989 mb	40.2°N 67.9°W	153 mi SE of Harwich, Massachusetts
Sep 22 18:00	TS	69 mph	—	39.6°N 66.4°W	open ocean
Sep 23 00:00	TS	69 mph	993 mb	38.8°N 65.2°W	open ocean
Sep 23 06:00	TS	63 mph	—	37.9°N 64.8°W	open ocean
Sep 23 12:00	TS	58 mph	—	37.0°N 65.0°W	open ocean
Sep 23 18:00	TS	52 mph	—	36.2°N 65.5°W	open ocean
Sep 24 00:00	TS	52 mph	995 mb	35.9°N 66.1°W	open ocean
Sep 24 06:00	TS	52 mph	—	35.6°N 66.7°W	open ocean
Sep 24 12:00	TS	52 mph	—	35.7°N 67.4°W	open ocean
Sep 24 18:00	TS	58 mph	—	36.0°N 68.4°W	open ocean
Sep 25 00:00	TS	58 mph	993 mb	36.3°N 69.4°W	open ocean
Sep 25 06:00	TS	58 mph	—	36.9°N 70.2°W	open ocean
Sep 25 12:00	TS	58 mph	990 mb	37.9°N 70.8°W	open ocean
Sep 25 18:00	TS	58 mph	990 mb	38.9°N 70.8°W	164 mi SE of Hampton Bays, New York
Sep 26 00:00	TS	58 mph	—	40.0°N 70.5°W	115 mi SSE of New Bedford, Massachusetts
Sep 26 05:00	TS LANDFALL	58 mph	—	41.3°N 70.3°W	28 mi S of Barnstable, Massachusetts
Sep 26 06:00	TS LANDFALL	58 mph	—	41.7°N 70.2°W	near Yarmouth, Massachusetts
Sep 26 11:00	TS LANDFALL	40 mph	1002 mb	43.8°N 69.9°W	near Brunswick, Maine
Sep 26 12:00	TS	40 mph	1002 mb	44.0°N 69.8°W	10 mi NE of Brunswick, Maine
Sep 26 18:00	TD	35 mph	—	47.0°N 69.2°W	49 mi WSW of Edmundston, New Brunswick, Canada
Sep 27 00:00	TD extratropical	35 mph	—	49.0°N 68.3°W	14 mi S of Hauterive, Quebec, Canada
Sep 27 06:00	TD extratropical	35 mph	—	50.0°N 67.0°W	31 mi WSW of Sept-Îles, Quebec, Canada

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

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When and where did Esther make landfall?

Esther made landfall 3 times: 10 mi W of Nantucket, Massachusetts on September 26, 1961 at 05:00 UTC, as a tropical storm with 58 mph winds; near Yarmouth, Massachusetts on September 26, 1961 at 06:00 UTC, as a tropical storm with 58 mph winds; near Harpswell Center, Maine on September 26, 1961 at 11:00 UTC, as a tropical storm with 40 mph winds.

What category was Esther?

At its peak on September 17, 1961, Esther was a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 161 mph (259 km/h) and a central pressure of 919 mb. At its first landfall it was a tropical storm.

How long did Esther last?

16.8 days, from September 10, 1961 to September 27, 1961, including 252 hours at hurricane strength (114 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 5,569 miles.

Where can I download the track data for Esther?

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 Esther

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1957	Tropical Storm Esther Atlantic	TS 63 mph	Louisiana	→
1961	Hurricane Esther · this page Atlantic	Cat 5 161 mph	Massachusetts, Maine

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 Carla Atlantic	Cat 4 144 mph	Texas	→
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 Esther on Wikipedia.

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

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