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All storm pages · 1969 Atlantic season

Hurricane Camille 1969

Category 5 hurricane · Atlantic · August 14 to August 22, 1969

Camille's central pressure fell to 900 mb, the eighth-lowest among the 1,277 Atlantic storms with a recorded pressure. No storm in the record came ashore in Mississippi with stronger winds than its 175 mph landfall on August 18, 1969; 18 storms have a landfall record there. It reached Category 5 with 175 mph winds, one of 44 Atlantic storms to do so since 1851. The name Camille is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Camille (1969) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N40°N90°W80°W70°W60°W50°WMemphisHamptonCuba, 110 mphMississippi, 175 mphPeak 175 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 4Category 500 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Camille (1969) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160200Aug 15Aug 16Aug 17Aug 18Aug 19Aug 20Aug 21Aug 22mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 115 miles west of Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, Jamaica
  2. Tropical storm 170 miles west of Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, Jamaica
  3. Hurricane 135 miles south-southwest of Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, Cuba
  4. Landfall Cuba: Category 2, 110 mph
  5. Major hurricane 105 miles west-northwest of Pinar del Rio, Cuba
  6. Peak 215 miles north of Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico
  7. Landfall Mississippi
  8. No longer tropical (extratropical low) 370 miles east-southeast of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
  9. Last record 370 miles east-southeast of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind175 mph · tied 11th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure900 mb · 8th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy23.2 · 183rd of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone8.2 days · tied 412th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

More from the record

No other storm of the 1969 Atlantic season matched its 175 mph peak; the season had 23 storms.

Its winds climbed 70 mph in the 24 hours to August 17.

In the 1969 season

04080120160200Camille

Storm 6 of 23 in 1969, hurricane 2 of 12; it formed after Blanche and before Debbie. Camille produced 17% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of at least 8 towns or cities of 10,000 people or more while the system was tropical. Distances are to the interpolated track line, not the storm's edge.

PlaceClosestWind thenDate
Petersburg, Virginia2 mi35 mphAugust 20
Hampton, Virginia5 mi40 mphAugust 20
Roanoke, Virginia6 mi30 mphAugust 20
Barlett, Tennessee6 mi40 mphAugust 19
Lynchburg, Virginia7 mi30 mphAugust 20
Southaven, Mississippi8 mi40 mphAugust 19
Blacksburg, Virginia11 mi30 mphAugust 20
Memphis, Tennessee12 mi40 mphAugust 19

Every storm within 50 miles of Memphis, Tennessee

Similar landfalls in Mississippi

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Mississippi came closest to Camille's 175 mph:

  • Elena (1985)115 mph, September 2, 1985
  • Storm 1 of 1852115 mph, August 26, 1852
  • Storm 6 of 1906110 mph, September 27, 1906
  • Storm 10 of 1893110 mph, October 2, 1893

All 18 storms with a landfall record in Mississippi

Also peaked at 175 mph

Of 9 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time: