Hurricane Florence (1953)

Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · September 23–27, 1953

Peak wind

115 mph

185 km/h · Sep 25

Peak category

Cat 3

Saffir–Simpson

Lowest pressure

968 mb

Landfalls

Florida

Lifetime

4.3 d

Sep 23 – Sep 27

Distance

1,656 mi

2,665 km

ACE

7.3

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 Florence

Hurricane Florence (1953) was a Category 3 hurricane of the 1953 Atlantic season. It formed on September 23, 1953, 211 mi SSW of May Pen, Jamaica, reached its peak of 115 mph (185 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 968 mb on September 25, 1953, and made landfall near Santa Rosa Beach, Florida on September 26, 1953 as a Category 1 hurricane (92 mph). It rapidly intensified by 52 mph in 24 hours (to 115 mph on September 25, 1953). The storm lasted 4.3 days and travelled about 1,656 miles (2,665 km).

02 · Intensity

Wind and pressure, hour by hour

Maximum sustained wind (mph) — hover or drag to scrub the map

03 · Impact

Landfall and cities in the path

Landfall (UTC)	Where	Strength	Pressure
September 26, 1953 · 15:00 UTC	near Santa Rosa Beach, Florida	Cat 1 92 mph	—

Closest approach to major cities

City	Distance to center	When (UTC)	Storm strength then
Tallahassee, Florida	58 mi	Sep 27 · 07:00 UTC	TS 46 mph
Savannah, Georgia	12 mi	Sep 27 · 18:00 UTC	TS 46 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 19 positions

Date · UTC	Status	Wind	Pressure	Position	Nearest place
Sep 23 12:00	TS	46 mph	—	15.0°N 78.0°W	open ocean
Sep 23 18:00	TS	52 mph	—	16.3°N 79.5°W	156 mi SSW of Negril, Jamaica
Sep 24 00:00	TS	52 mph	—	17.6°N 81.0°W	117 mi S of Bodden Town, Cayman Islands
Sep 24 06:00	TS	58 mph	—	18.9°N 82.5°W	78 mi WSW of George Town, Cayman Islands
Sep 24 12:00	TS	58 mph	—	20.2°N 84.0°W	139 mi S of Guane, Pinar del Río, Cuba
Sep 24 18:00	TS	63 mph	1001 mb	21.3°N 85.4°W	94 mi E of Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 25 00:00	Cat 1	75 mph	—	22.4°N 86.4°W	89 mi NNE of Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 25 06:00	Cat 1	92 mph	—	23.4°N 87.0°W	154 mi N of Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 25 12:00	Cat 2	104 mph	968 mb	24.6°N 87.6°W	open ocean
Sep 25 18:00	Cat 3	115 mph	—	25.9°N 87.5°W	open ocean
Sep 26 00:00	Cat 2	109 mph	—	27.4°N 87.2°W	open ocean
Sep 26 06:00	Cat 2	104 mph	—	28.9°N 86.8°W	104 mi S of Navarre, Florida
Sep 26 12:00	Cat 1	92 mph	—	29.9°N 86.4°W	36 mi SSW of Santa Rosa Beach, Florida
Sep 26 15:00	Cat 1 LANDFALL	92 mph	—	30.3°N 86.2°W	near Santa Rosa Beach, Florida
Sep 26 18:00	Cat 1	81 mph	—	30.7°N 86.1°W	22 mi NNE of Santa Rosa Beach, Florida
Sep 27 00:00	TS	58 mph	—	31.0°N 85.6°W	20 mi SW of Dothan, Alabama
Sep 27 06:00	TS extratropical	46 mph	—	31.2°N 84.7°W	22 mi NNW of Bainbridge, Georgia
Sep 27 12:00	TS extratropical	46 mph	—	31.6°N 83.1°W	16 mi WNW of Douglas, Georgia
Sep 27 18:00	TS extratropical	46 mph	—	32.1°N 81.3°W	near Pooler, Georgia

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

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When and where did Florence make landfall?

Florence made landfall once: near Santa Rosa Beach, Florida on September 26, 1953 at 15:00 UTC, as a Category 1 hurricane with 92 mph winds.

What category was Florence?

At its peak on September 25, 1953, Florence was a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) and a central pressure of 968 mb. At its first landfall it was a Category 1 hurricane.

How long did Florence last?

4.3 days, from September 23, 1953 to September 27, 1953, including 48 hours at hurricane strength (6 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 1,656 miles.

Where can I download the track data for Florence?

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 Florence

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1953	Hurricane Florence · this page Atlantic	Cat 3 115 mph	Florida
1954	Tropical Storm Florence Atlantic	TS 63 mph	Veracruz, Mexico	→
1960	Tropical Storm Florence Atlantic	TS 58 mph	Turks and Caicos Islands	→
1963	Hurricane Florence Eastern Pacific	Cat 1 86 mph	—	→
1964	Tropical Storm Florence Atlantic	TS 46 mph	—
1965	Tropical Storm Florence Eastern Pacific	TS 52 mph	—
1969	Tropical Storm Florence Eastern Pacific	TS 69 mph	—
1973	Hurricane Florence Eastern Pacific	Cat 1 92 mph	—	→
1977	Hurricane Florence Eastern Pacific	Cat 2 104 mph	—	→
1988	Hurricane Florence Atlantic	Cat 1 81 mph	Louisiana	→
1994	Hurricane Florence Atlantic	Cat 2 109 mph	—	→
2000	Hurricane Florence Atlantic	Cat 1 81 mph	—	→
2006	Hurricane Florence Atlantic	Cat 1 92 mph	—	→
2012	Tropical Storm Florence Atlantic	TS 58 mph	—
2018	Hurricane Florence Atlantic	Cat 4 150 mph	North Carolina	→

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

Strongest storms of 1953

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1953	Hurricane Carol Atlantic	Cat 5 161 mph	Nova Scotia, Canada, New Brunswick, Canada	→
1953	Hurricane Edna Atlantic	Cat 3 115 mph	—	→
1953	Hurricane Barbara Atlantic	Cat 1 92 mph	North Carolina	→
1953	Hurricane Hazel Atlantic	Cat 1 86 mph	Florida	→
1953	Hurricane Gail Atlantic	Cat 1 81 mph	—	→
1953	Hurricane Dolly Atlantic	Cat 1 75 mph	Bermuda	→
1953	Tropical Storm Alice Atlantic	TS 69 mph	Pinar del Río, Cuba, Florida	→

See every 1953 storm on one map →

Background reading: Hurricane Florence on Wikipedia.

← Previous Atlantic stormHurricane Edna (1953)Next Atlantic storm →Hurricane Gail (1953)

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