Track map & timeline · Atlantic · October 7–14, 1973
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
Hurricane Fran (1973) was a Category 1 hurricane of the 1973 Atlantic season. It formed on October 7, 1973, 362 mi NE of Nassau, Bahamas, reached its peak of 86 mph (139 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 974 mb on October 11, 1973, and never made landfall. It rapidly intensified by 35 mph in 24 hours (to 75 mph on October 10, 1973). The storm lasted 6.5 days and travelled about 4,195 miles (6,750 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Impact
| City | Distance to center | When (UTC) | Storm strength then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nantes, France | 43 mi | Oct 13 · 22:00 UTC | TS 67 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
| Date · UTC | Status | Wind | Pressure | Position | Nearest place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 7 12:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1010 mb | 28.0°N 72.5°W | open ocean |
| Oct 7 18:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1010 mb | 28.4°N 72.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 8 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 28.8°N 71.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 8 06:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 29.4°N 69.5°W | open ocean |
| Oct 8 12:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1008 mb | 29.9°N 67.7°W | open ocean |
| Oct 8 18:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1008 mb | 30.3°N 65.8°W | 150 mi SSW of Pembroke Parish, Bermuda |
| Oct 9 00:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 30.5°N 63.9°W | 135 mi SSE of Pembroke Parish, Bermuda |
| Oct 9 06:00 | TS | 46 mph | — | 30.7°N 62.3°W | 184 mi SE of Pembroke Parish, Bermuda |
| Oct 9 12:00 | TS | 52 mph | 1005 mb | 31.0°N 60.2°W | open ocean |
| Oct 9 18:00 | TS | 63 mph | 998 mb | 31.5°N 57.8°W | open ocean |
| Oct 10 00:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 31.9°N 55.2°W | open ocean |
| Oct 10 06:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | 989 mb | 32.5°N 51.7°W | open ocean |
| Oct 10 12:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | 989 mb | 33.1°N 48.1°W | open ocean |
| Oct 10 18:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | 993 mb | 33.9°N 45.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 11 00:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 35.1°N 41.9°W | open ocean |
| Oct 11 06:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 37.0°N 37.9°W | open ocean |
| Oct 11 12:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | 986 mb | 39.2°N 34.2°W | open ocean |
| Oct 11 18:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 40.7°N 30.7°W | open ocean |
| Oct 12 00:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 42.6°N 26.5°W | open ocean |
| Oct 12 06:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 45.4°N 21.5°W | open ocean |
| Oct 12 12:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 81 mph | — | 47.0°N 17.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 12 18:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 81 mph | — | 48.0°N 14.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 13 00:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 75 mph | 974 mb | 48.1°N 11.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 13 06:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 75 mph | — | 48.2°N 9.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 13 12:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 75 mph | 974 mb | 47.5°N 6.5°W | 112 mi WSW of Brest, France |
| Oct 13 18:00 | Cat 1 extratropical | 75 mph | — | 47.0°N 4.0°W | 59 mi SSW of Lorient, France |
| Oct 14 00:00 | TS extratropical | 63 mph | — | 46.5°N 1.0°W | 10 mi WNW of Fontenay-le-Comte, France |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
No — the NOAA best-track record shows no landfall for Fran. Its closest approach to a major city was 43 miles from Nantes, France.
At its peak on October 11, 1973, Fran was a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 86 mph (139 km/h) and a central pressure of 974 mb.
6.5 days, from October 7, 1973 to October 14, 1973, including 60 hours at hurricane strength. It travelled about 4,195 miles.
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.
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