Track map & timeline · Eastern Pacific · September 29 – October 8, 1976
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 Madeline (1976) was a Category 4 hurricane of the 1976 Eastern Pacific season. It formed on September 29, 1976, 252 mi S of Acajutla, El Salvador, reached its peak of 144 mph (232 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 941 mb on October 8, 1976, and never made landfall. It rapidly intensified by 46 mph in 24 hours (to 127 mph on October 7, 1976). The storm lasted 9.8 days and travelled about 1,204 miles (1,936 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Impact
| City | Distance to center | When (UTC) | Storm strength then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico | 72 mi | Oct 8 · 18:00 UTC | Cat 1 86 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 29 00:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 10.0°N 90.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 06:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 10.0°N 90.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 12:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 10.0°N 91.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 18:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 10.1°N 91.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 30 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.2°N 91.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 30 06:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 10.2°N 91.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 30 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.2°N 91.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 30 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.2°N 92.3°W | open ocean |
| Oct 1 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.2°N 92.7°W | open ocean |
| Oct 1 06:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.3°N 93.1°W | open ocean |
| Oct 1 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.3°N 93.5°W | open ocean |
| Oct 1 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.3°N 93.7°W | open ocean |
| Oct 2 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.3°N 94.2°W | open ocean |
| Oct 2 06:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.3°N 94.6°W | open ocean |
| Oct 2 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.4°N 95.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 2 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.5°N 95.5°W | open ocean |
| Oct 3 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.7°N 96.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 3 06:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 10.9°N 96.5°W | open ocean |
| Oct 3 12:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 11.0°N 96.7°W | open ocean |
| Oct 3 18:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 11.0°N 97.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 4 00:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 11.2°N 97.3°W | open ocean |
| Oct 4 06:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 11.2°N 97.4°W | open ocean |
| Oct 4 12:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 11.3°N 97.5°W | open ocean |
| Oct 4 18:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 11.4°N 97.6°W | open ocean |
| Oct 5 00:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 11.4°N 97.7°W | open ocean |
| Oct 5 06:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 11.4°N 97.8°W | open ocean |
| Oct 5 12:00 | TS | 46 mph | — | 11.5°N 97.9°W | open ocean |
| Oct 5 18:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 11.5°N 98.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 6 00:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 12.0°N 98.5°W | open ocean |
| Oct 6 06:00 | TS | 69 mph | — | 12.3°N 99.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 6 12:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 12.7°N 99.5°W | open ocean |
| Oct 6 18:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | 984 mb | 13.0°N 100.2°W | open ocean |
| Oct 7 00:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 13.8°N 101.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 7 06:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | — | 14.4°N 101.6°W | open ocean |
| Oct 7 12:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | — | 15.0°N 102.0°W | 179 mi SSW of Técpan de Galeana, Guerrero, Mexico |
| Oct 7 18:00 | Cat 3 | 127 mph | — | 15.6°N 102.2°W | 148 mi SSW of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico |
| Oct 8 00:00 | Cat 4 | 132 mph | 941 mb | 16.3°N 102.3°W | 105 mi SSW of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico |
| Oct 8 06:00 | Cat 4 | 144 mph | — | 17.3°N 102.2°W | 46 mi S of Ciudad Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, Mexico |
| Oct 8 12:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 18.2°N 102.0°W | 21 mi NE of Ciudad Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, Mexico |
| Oct 8 18:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 19.0°N 102.0°W | near Nueva Italia de Ruiz, Michoacán, Mexico |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
No — the NOAA best-track record shows no landfall for Madeline. Its closest approach to a major city was 72 miles from Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico.
At its peak on October 8, 1976, Madeline was a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 144 mph (232 km/h) and a central pressure of 941 mb.
9.8 days, from September 29, 1976 to October 8, 1976, including 54 hours at hurricane strength (24 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 1,204 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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