Hurricane Hilda (1955)

Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · September 12–20, 1955

Peak wind

121 mph

194 km/h · Sep 16

Peak category

Cat 3

Saffir–Simpson

Lowest pressure

952 mb

Landfalls

Quintana Roo, Mexico · Tamaulipas, Mexico

Lifetime

8.3 d

Sep 12 – Sep 20

Distance

2,228 mi

3,584 km

ACE

18.4

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 Hilda

Hurricane Hilda (1955) was a Category 3 hurricane of the 1955 Atlantic season. It formed on September 12, 1955, 51 mi N of San Juan, Puerto Rico, reached its peak of 121 mph (194 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 952 mb on September 16, 1955, and made landfall 4 times — first near Maisí, Guantánamo Province, Cuba on September 13, 1955 as a Category 1 hurricane (81 mph). Later landfalls: near Breakers, Cayman Islands on September 15, 1955 as a Category 1 hurricane (75 mph); 24 mi ENE of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico on September 16, 1955 as a Category 3 hurricane (121 mph); near Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico on September 19, 1955 as a Category 3 hurricane (121 mph). It rapidly intensified by 57 mph in 24 hours (to 115 mph on September 15, 1955). The storm lasted 8.3 days and travelled about 2,228 miles (3,584 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 13, 1955 · 21:00 UTC	near Maisí, Guantánamo Province, Cuba	Cat 1 81 mph	986 mb
September 15, 1955 · 03:00 UTC	near Breakers, Cayman Islands	Cat 1 75 mph	995 mb
September 16, 1955 · 14:00 UTC	24 mi ENE of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico	Cat 3 121 mph	—
September 19, 1955 · 11:00 UTC	near Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico	Cat 3 121 mph	952 mb

Closest approach to major cities

City	Distance to center	When (UTC)	Storm strength then
San Juan, Puerto Rico	51 mi	Sep 12 · 00:00 UTC	TS 46 mph
Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic	64 mi	Sep 13 · 02:00 UTC	Cat 1 81 mph
Port-de-Paix, Haiti	27 mi	Sep 13 · 14:00 UTC	Cat 1 81 mph
Santiago de Cuba, Santiago de Cuba Province, Cuba	direct hit	Sep 14 · 04:00 UTC	TS 65 mph
Holguín, Holguín Province, Cuba	55 mi	Sep 14 · 06:00 UTC	TS 63 mph
Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico	43 mi	Sep 17 · 04:00 UTC	TS 65 mph
Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico	direct hit	Sep 19 · 11:00 UTC	Cat 3 121 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 12 00:00	TS	46 mph	—	19.2°N 66.1°W	51 mi N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
Sep 12 06:00	TS	52 mph	—	19.5°N 67.0°W	73 mi NNW of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
Sep 12 12:00	TS	58 mph	—	19.8°N 68.0°W	88 mi NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Sep 12 15:00	TS	63 mph	996 mb	20.0°N 68.5°W	77 mi NE of Samaná, Dominican Republic
Sep 12 18:00	TS	69 mph	—	20.1°N 69.1°W	64 mi NNE of Samaná, Dominican Republic
Sep 13 00:00	Cat 1	81 mph	—	20.3°N 70.2°W	47 mi NE of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
Sep 13 06:00	Cat 1	81 mph	—	20.5°N 71.3°W	50 mi NNE of San Fernando de Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic
Sep 13 12:00	Cat 1	81 mph	—	20.4°N 72.5°W	38 mi NE of Port-de-Paix, Haiti
Sep 13 18:00	Cat 1	81 mph	986 mb	20.2°N 73.6°W	36 mi E of Maisí, Guantánamo Province, Cuba
Sep 13 21:00	Cat 1 LANDFALL	81 mph	986 mb	20.2°N 74.2°W	near Maisí, Guantánamo Province, Cuba
Sep 14 00:00	TS	69 mph	—	20.1°N 74.8°W	27 mi E of Guantánamo, Guantánamo Province, Cuba
Sep 14 06:00	TS	63 mph	—	20.1°N 76.2°W	14 mi SSE of Contramaestre, Santiago de Cuba Province, Cuba
Sep 14 12:00	TS	58 mph	—	20.1°N 77.7°W	near Niquero, Granma Province, Cuba
Sep 14 18:00	TS	58 mph	—	19.9°N 79.2°W	96 mi SW of Santa Cruz del Sur, Camagüey, Cuba
Sep 15 00:00	TS	69 mph	995 mb	19.5°N 80.6°W	41 mi ENE of Further Ground, Cayman Islands
Sep 15 03:00	Cat 1 LANDFALL	75 mph	995 mb	19.3°N 81.2°W	near Breakers, Cayman Islands
Sep 15 06:00	Cat 1	86 mph	—	19.2°N 82.1°W	48 mi W of George Town, Cayman Islands
Sep 15 12:00	Cat 2	104 mph	980 mb	19.1°N 83.4°W	133 mi W of George Town, Cayman Islands
Sep 15 18:00	Cat 3	115 mph	—	19.1°N 84.4°W	open ocean
Sep 16 00:00	Cat 3	121 mph	963 mb	19.2°N 85.4°W	135 mi SE of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 16 06:00	Cat 3	121 mph	—	19.4°N 86.4°W	84 mi SSE of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 16 12:00	Cat 3	121 mph	—	19.6°N 87.4°W	42 mi E of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 16 14:00	Cat 3 LANDFALL	121 mph	—	19.7°N 87.7°W	24 mi ENE of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 16 18:00	Cat 1	92 mph	—	19.9°N 88.4°W	23 mi ENE of José María Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 17 00:00	TS	69 mph	—	20.2°N 89.3°W	near Tecax, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 17 06:00	TS	63 mph	—	20.5°N 90.2°W	13 mi NW of Calkiní, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 17 12:00	TS	63 mph	—	20.8°N 91.1°W	76 mi NNW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 17 18:00	Cat 1	75 mph	985 mb	21.0°N 92.0°W	125 mi NW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 18 00:00	Cat 1	86 mph	—	21.1°N 92.8°W	172 mi WNW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Sep 18 06:00	Cat 1	92 mph	—	21.3°N 93.5°W	open ocean
Sep 18 12:00	Cat 2	98 mph	970 mb	21.5°N 94.2°W	open ocean
Sep 18 18:00	Cat 2	104 mph	—	21.8°N 94.9°W	172 mi ENE of Túxpam de Rodríguez Cano, Veracruz, Mexico
Sep 19 00:00	Cat 3	115 mph	—	22.0°N 95.9°W	121 mi NE of Túxpam de Rodríguez Cano, Veracruz, Mexico
Sep 19 06:00	Cat 3	121 mph	—	22.1°N 97.0°W	55 mi E of Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 19 11:00	Cat 3 LANDFALL	121 mph	952 mb	22.3°N 97.9°W	near Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 19 12:00	Cat 3	121 mph	952 mb	22.3°N 98.1°W	14 mi W of Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sep 19 18:00	TS	58 mph	—	22.2°N 98.8°W	14 mi N of Tamuín, San Luis Potosí, Mexico
Sep 20 00:00	TD	35 mph	—	22.0°N 99.1°W	near Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosí, Mexico
Sep 20 06:00	TD	29 mph	—	21.8°N 99.5°W	17 mi SSE of Cárdenas, San Luis Potosí, Mexico

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

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When and where did Hilda make landfall?

Hilda made landfall 4 times: near Maisí, Guantánamo Province, Cuba on September 13, 1955 at 21:00 UTC, as a Category 1 hurricane with 81 mph winds; near Breakers, Cayman Islands on September 15, 1955 at 03:00 UTC, as a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds; 24 mi ENE of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico on September 16, 1955 at 14:00 UTC, as a Category 3 hurricane with 121 mph winds; near Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico on September 19, 1955 at 11:00 UTC, as a Category 3 hurricane with 121 mph winds.

What category was Hilda?

At its peak on September 16, 1955, Hilda was a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 121 mph (194 km/h) and a central pressure of 952 mb. At its first landfall it was a Category 1 hurricane.

How long did Hilda last?

8.3 days, from September 12, 1955 to September 20, 1955, including 117 hours at hurricane strength (42 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 2,228 miles.

Where can I download the track data for Hilda?

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 Hilda

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1955	Hurricane Hilda · this page Atlantic	Cat 3 121 mph	Quintana Roo, Mexico, Tamaulipas, Mexico
1964	Hurricane Hilda Atlantic	Cat 4 138 mph	Louisiana, Pinar del Río, Cuba	→
1979	Tropical Storm Hilda Eastern Pacific	TS 46 mph	—
1985	Tropical Storm Hilda Eastern Pacific	TS 40 mph	—
1991	Tropical Storm Hilda Eastern Pacific	TS 63 mph	—
1997	Tropical Storm Hilda Eastern Pacific	TS 52 mph	—
2003	Tropical Storm Hilda Eastern Pacific	TS 40 mph	—
2009	Tropical Storm Hilda Eastern Pacific	TS 63 mph	—
2015	Hurricane Hilda Eastern Pacific	Cat 4 144 mph	—	→
2021	Hurricane Hilda Eastern Pacific	Cat 1 86 mph	—	→

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

Strongest storms of 1955

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1955	Hurricane Janet Atlantic	Cat 5 173 mph	Quintana Roo, Mexico, Veracruz, Mexico	→
1955	Hurricane Connie Atlantic	Cat 4 138 mph	North Carolina	→
1955	Hurricane Ione Atlantic	Cat 4 138 mph	North Carolina	→
1955	Hurricane Katie Atlantic	Cat 2 109 mph	Dominican Republic	→
1955	Hurricane Diane Atlantic	Cat 2 104 mph	North Carolina	→
1955	Hurricane Flora Atlantic	Cat 2 104 mph	—	→
1955	Hurricane Edith Atlantic	Cat 2 98 mph	—	→
1955	Hurricane Gladys Atlantic	Cat 1 75 mph	Tamaulipas, Mexico	→

See every 1955 storm on one map →

Background reading: Hurricane Hilda on Wikipedia.

← Previous Atlantic stormHurricane Ione (1955)Next Atlantic storm →Hurricane Janet (1955)

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