Hurricane Judith (1959)

Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · October 14–22, 1959

Peak wind

86 mph

139 km/h · Oct 19

Peak category

Cat 1

Saffir–Simpson

Lowest pressure

988 mb

Landfalls

Florida

Lifetime

8.0 d

Oct 14 – Oct 22

Distance

3,331 mi

5,359 km

ACE

6.8

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 Judith

Hurricane Judith (1959) was a Category 1 hurricane of the 1959 Atlantic season. It formed on October 14, 1959, 174 mi NNW of Riohacha, Colombia, reached its peak of 86 mph (139 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 988 mb on October 19, 1959, and made landfall 13 mi S of Rotonda West, Florida on October 18, 1959 as a tropical storm (63 mph). It rapidly intensified by 34 mph in 24 hours (to 63 mph on October 18, 1959). The storm lasted 8.0 days and travelled about 3,331 miles (5,359 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
October 18, 1959 · 14:00 UTC	13 mi S of Rotonda West, Florida	TS 63 mph	998 mb

Closest approach to major cities

City	Distance to center	When (UTC)	Storm strength then
Cape Coral, Florida	16 mi	Oct 18 · 15:00 UTC	TS 60 mph
Fort Lauderdale, Florida	65 mi	Oct 18 · 18:00 UTC	TS 52 mph
Pembroke Pines, Florida	71 mi	Oct 18 · 18:00 UTC	TS 52 mph
Port Saint Lucie, Florida	22 mi	Oct 18 · 18:00 UTC	TS 52 mph
Hollywood, Florida	72 mi	Oct 18 · 18:00 UTC	TS 52 mph
Miramar, Florida	72 mi	Oct 18 · 18:00 UTC	TS 52 mph
Coral Springs, Florida	52 mi	Oct 18 · 18:00 UTC	TS 52 mph
Palm Bay, Florida	72 mi	Oct 18 · 18:00 UTC	TS 52 mph
Pompano Beach, Florida	58 mi	Oct 18 · 18:00 UTC	TS 52 mph
West Palm Beach, Florida	26 mi	Oct 18 · 19:00 UTC	TS 54 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 34 positions

Date · UTC	Status	Wind	Pressure	Position	Nearest place
Oct 14 06:00	TD	35 mph	—	14.0°N 73.5°W	174 mi NNW of Riohacha, Colombia
Oct 14 12:00	TS	40 mph	—	14.0°N 75.3°W	open ocean
Oct 14 18:00	TS	46 mph	—	14.0°N 77.0°W	open ocean
Oct 15 00:00	TS	46 mph	—	14.1°N 78.5°W	open ocean
Oct 15 06:00	TS	40 mph	—	14.3°N 79.7°W	179 mi NE of San Andrés, Colombia
Oct 15 12:00	TD	35 mph	—	14.6°N 80.7°W	155 mi NNE of San Andrés, Colombia
Oct 15 18:00	TD	29 mph	—	15.0°N 81.5°W	143 mi ENE of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Oct 16 00:00	TD low/wave	29 mph	—	15.6°N 82.2°W	134 mi NE of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Oct 16 06:00	TD low/wave	29 mph	—	16.4°N 82.9°W	114 mi ENE of Brus Laguna, Honduras
Oct 16 12:00	TD low/wave	29 mph	—	17.4°N 83.6°W	128 mi NNE of Brus Laguna, Honduras
Oct 16 18:00	TD low/wave	29 mph	—	18.6°N 84.3°W	open ocean
Oct 17 00:00	TD low/wave	29 mph	—	19.8°N 84.8°W	147 mi ESE of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Oct 17 06:00	TD low/wave	29 mph	—	21.0°N 85.1°W	113 mi E of Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Oct 17 12:00	TD	35 mph	—	22.3°N 85.1°W	52 mi W of Mantua, Pinar del Río, Cuba
Oct 17 18:00	TS	46 mph	—	23.8°N 84.5°W	91 mi NNW of Minas de Matahambre, Pinar del Río, Cuba
Oct 18 00:00	TS	63 mph	—	25.0°N 84.0°W	143 mi WNW of Key West, Florida
Oct 18 06:00	TS	63 mph	—	26.0°N 83.4°W	98 mi WSW of Cape Coral, Florida
Oct 18 12:00	TS	63 mph	998 mb	26.7°N 82.5°W	20 mi SSW of Englewood, Florida
Oct 18 14:00	TS LANDFALL	63 mph	998 mb	26.7°N 82.3°W	24 mi WNW of Cape Coral, Florida
Oct 18 18:00	TS	52 mph	1001 mb	27.0°N 80.5°W	22 mi SSW of Port Saint Lucie, Florida
Oct 19 00:00	TS	63 mph	—	27.5°N 77.2°W	112 mi NE of Lucaya, Bahamas
Oct 19 06:00	Cat 1	75 mph	993 mb	28.5°N 73.6°W	open ocean
Oct 19 12:00	Cat 1	86 mph	988 mb	29.6°N 70.0°W	open ocean
Oct 19 18:00	Cat 1	86 mph	—	30.5°N 66.2°W	150 mi SW of Pembroke Parish, Bermuda
Oct 20 00:00	Cat 1	81 mph	—	31.0°N 62.6°W	157 mi SE of Pembroke Parish, Bermuda
Oct 20 06:00	Cat 1	81 mph	—	31.0°N 59.5°W	open ocean
Oct 20 12:00	Cat 1	81 mph	—	31.0°N 57.5°W	open ocean
Oct 20 18:00	Cat 1	81 mph	—	31.1°N 56.5°W	open ocean
Oct 21 00:00	TS	69 mph	—	31.3°N 55.7°W	open ocean
Oct 21 06:00	TS	63 mph	—	31.5°N 55.3°W	open ocean
Oct 21 12:00	TS	58 mph	—	31.7°N 55.0°W	open ocean
Oct 21 18:00	TS	46 mph	—	31.8°N 54.8°W	open ocean
Oct 22 00:00	TS	40 mph	—	32.0°N 54.0°W	open ocean
Oct 22 06:00	TD	35 mph	—	32.0°N 52.5°W	open ocean

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

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When and where did Judith make landfall?

Judith made landfall once: 13 mi S of Rotonda West, Florida on October 18, 1959 at 14:00 UTC, as a tropical storm with 63 mph winds.

What category was Judith?

At its peak on October 19, 1959, Judith was a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 86 mph (139 km/h) and a central pressure of 988 mb. At its first landfall it was a tropical storm.

How long did Judith last?

8.0 days, from October 14, 1959 to October 22, 1959, including 42 hours at hurricane strength. It travelled about 3,331 miles.

Where can I download the track data for Judith?

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 Judith

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1959	Hurricane Judith · this page Atlantic	Cat 1 86 mph	Florida
1966	Tropical Storm Judith Atlantic	TS 46 mph	Saint Lucia	→

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

Strongest storms of 1959

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1959	Hurricane Patsy Central Pacific	Cat 5 173 mph	—	→
1959	Hurricane Dot Central Pacific	Cat 4 150 mph	—	→
1959	1959 Mexico Hurricane Eastern Pacific	Cat 4 138 mph	Colima, Mexico	→
1959	Hurricane Gracie Atlantic	Cat 4 132 mph	South Carolina	→
1959	Hurricane Hannah Atlantic	Cat 3 121 mph	—	→
1959	1959 Escuminac Hurricane Atlantic	Cat 1 86 mph	Florida	→
1959	Hurricane Debra Atlantic	Cat 1 86 mph	Texas	→
1959	Hurricane Cindy Atlantic	Cat 1 75 mph	South Carolina, Massachusetts	→

See every 1959 storm on one map →

← Previous Atlantic stormTropical Storm Irene (1959)Next Atlantic storm →Hurricane Abby (1960)

This site was built by Digital Dynamics Kft.

We build live, data-driven sites like this one

This archive is our own work, built from openly available data — the NOAA best-track records, the replay engine, the wind-field rendering and the map tiles served from our own servers in the European Union. If your business generates data — measurements, machines, orders, customers — we are happy to turn it into a clear, interactive interface.

But this is not all we build:

online shops and websites, with a design of your own
SaaS products and ERP systems
mobile apps for Android and iPhone
data collection, automation and map-based visualization

Or anything else that can be programmed — just get in touch.

See our work → or write: info@digitaldynamics.hu

digitaldynamics.hu