Hurricane Fern (1971)

Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · September 3–13, 1971

Peak wind

86 mph

139 km/h · Sep 10

Peak category

Cat 1

Saffir–Simpson

Lowest pressure

978 mb

Landfalls

Texas

Lifetime

9.5 d

Sep 3 – Sep 13

Distance

1,123 mi

1,806 km

ACE

6.0

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 Fern

Hurricane Fern (1971) was a Category 1 hurricane of the 1971 Atlantic season. It formed on September 3, 1971, 203 mi S of Pensacola, Florida, reached its peak of 86 mph (139 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 978 mb on September 10, 1971, and made landfall 2 times — first near Rockport, Texas on September 11, 1971 as a Category 1 hurricane (86 mph). Later landfalls: near Corpus Christi, Texas on September 11, 1971 as a Category 1 hurricane (86 mph). The storm lasted 9.5 days and travelled about 1,123 miles (1,806 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 11, 1971 · 00:00 UTC	near Rockport, Texas	Cat 1 86 mph	979 mb
September 11, 1971 · 06:00 UTC	near Corpus Christi, Texas	Cat 1 86 mph	979 mb

Closest approach to major cities

City	Distance to center	When (UTC)	Storm strength then
Baton Rouge, Louisiana	71 mi	Sep 6 · 00:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
New Orleans, Louisiana	direct hit	Sep 6 · 05:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Metairie Terrace, Louisiana	10 mi	Sep 6 · 05:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Metairie, Louisiana	direct hit	Sep 6 · 05:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Corpus Christi, Texas	direct hit	Sep 11 · 06:00 UTC	Cat 1 86 mph
Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico	72 mi	Sep 12 · 06:00 UTC	TS 40 mph
McAllen, Texas	64 mi	Sep 12 · 06:00 UTC	TS 40 mph
Laredo, Texas	41 mi	Sep 12 · 16:00 UTC	TD 36 mph
Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico	39 mi	Sep 12 · 17:00 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 39 positions

Date · UTC	Status	Wind	Pressure	Position	Nearest place
Sep 3 12:00	TD	29 mph	—	27.5°N 87.5°W	open ocean
Sep 3 18:00	TD	29 mph	—	27.7°N 87.7°W	176 mi S of Gulf Shores, Alabama
Sep 4 00:00	TD	29 mph	—	28.0°N 88.0°W	156 mi S of Gulf Shores, Alabama
Sep 4 06:00	TD	29 mph	—	28.4°N 88.3°W	133 mi SSW of Gulf Shores, Alabama
Sep 4 12:00	TD	29 mph	1013 mb	28.8°N 88.6°W	108 mi S of Pascagoula, Mississippi
Sep 4 18:00	TD	35 mph	—	29.2°N 88.9°W	82 mi S of Gulfport, Mississippi
Sep 5 00:00	TD	35 mph	1011 mb	29.7°N 89.1°W	46 mi S of Gulfport, Mississippi
Sep 5 06:00	TD	29 mph	1012 mb	30.2°N 89.5°W	18 mi ESE of Slidell, Louisiana
Sep 5 12:00	TD	29 mph	1012 mb	30.6°N 89.8°W	near Carriere, Mississippi
Sep 5 18:00	TD	29 mph	1012 mb	30.6°N 89.9°W	14 mi SSW of Bogalusa, Louisiana
Sep 6 00:00	TD	29 mph	1010 mb	30.3°N 90.0°W	near Mandeville, Louisiana
Sep 6 06:00	TD	29 mph	1009 mb	29.9°N 90.0°W	near New Orleans, Louisiana
Sep 6 12:00	TD	29 mph	1010 mb	29.5°N 90.2°W	32 mi SSW of New Orleans, Louisiana
Sep 6 18:00	TD	29 mph	—	29.0°N 90.5°W	43 mi SSE of Houma, Louisiana
Sep 7 00:00	TD	29 mph	—	28.6°N 91.0°W	71 mi SSW of Houma, Louisiana
Sep 7 06:00	TD	29 mph	—	28.2°N 91.5°W	107 mi SSW of Houma, Louisiana
Sep 7 12:00	TD	35 mph	—	27.7°N 92.0°W	146 mi SSW of Morgan City, Louisiana
Sep 7 18:00	TS	40 mph	—	27.3°N 92.3°W	179 mi SSW of Morgan City, Louisiana
Sep 8 00:00	TS	46 mph	1000 mb	27.0°N 92.6°W	open ocean
Sep 8 06:00	TS	52 mph	—	26.8°N 92.8°W	open ocean
Sep 8 12:00	TS	52 mph	—	26.7°N 93.1°W	open ocean
Sep 8 18:00	TS	58 mph	995 mb	26.6°N 93.4°W	open ocean
Sep 9 00:00	TS	69 mph	987 mb	26.6°N 93.7°W	open ocean
Sep 9 06:00	TS	58 mph	993 mb	26.7°N 94.0°W	177 mi SSE of Freeport, Texas
Sep 9 12:00	TS	58 mph	994 mb	27.0°N 94.3°W	150 mi SSE of Freeport, Texas
Sep 9 18:00	TS	63 mph	992 mb	27.4°N 94.5°W	119 mi SSE of Freeport, Texas
Sep 10 00:00	TS	69 mph	988 mb	27.9°N 94.8°W	80 mi SSE of Freeport, Texas
Sep 10 06:00	TS	69 mph	990 mb	28.3°N 95.3°W	45 mi S of Freeport, Texas
Sep 10 12:00	Cat 1	86 mph	979 mb	28.4°N 95.9°W	40 mi S of Bay City, Texas
Sep 10 18:00	Cat 1	86 mph	979 mb	28.2°N 96.6°W	29 mi S of Port Lavaca, Texas
Sep 11 00:00	Cat 1 LANDFALL	86 mph	979 mb	27.9°N 97.0°W	near Rockport, Texas
Sep 11 06:00	Cat 1 LANDFALL	86 mph	979 mb	27.7°N 97.3°W	near Corpus Christi, Texas
Sep 11 12:00	TS	63 mph	978 mb	27.5°N 97.6°W	16 mi E of Kingsville, Texas
Sep 11 18:00	TS	52 mph	—	27.3°N 97.8°W	15 mi SSE of Kingsville, Texas
Sep 12 00:00	TS	46 mph	—	27.2°N 98.1°W	26 mi SW of Kingsville, Texas
Sep 12 06:00	TS	40 mph	—	27.1°N 98.5°W	49 mi SW of Kingsville, Texas
Sep 12 12:00	TS	40 mph	—	27.0°N 99.0°W	46 mi SE of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 12 18:00	TD	35 mph	—	26.9°N 99.5°W	40 mi S of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 13 00:00	TD	29 mph	—	26.9°N 100.0°W	25 mi SSE of Anáhuac, Nuevo León, Mexico

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

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When and where did Fern make landfall?

Fern made landfall 2 times: near Rockport, Texas on September 11, 1971 at 00:00 UTC, as a Category 1 hurricane with 86 mph winds; near Corpus Christi, Texas on September 11, 1971 at 06:00 UTC, as a Category 1 hurricane with 86 mph winds.

What category was Fern?

At its peak on September 10, 1971, Fern was a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 86 mph (139 km/h) and a central pressure of 978 mb. At its first landfall it was a Category 1 hurricane.

How long did Fern last?

9.5 days, from September 3, 1971 to September 13, 1971, including 24 hours at hurricane strength. It travelled about 1,123 miles.

Where can I download the track data for Fern?

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 Fern

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1967	Hurricane Fern Atlantic	Cat 1 75 mph	Tamaulipas, Mexico	→
1971	Hurricane Fern · this page Atlantic	Cat 1 86 mph	Texas

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 Edith Atlantic	Cat 4 150 mph	Honduras, Louisiana	→
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	—	→

See every 1971 storm on one map →

Background reading: Hurricane Fern on Wikipedia.

← Previous Atlantic stormTropical Storm Doria (1971)Next Atlantic storm →Hurricane Edith (1971)

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