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All storm pages · 1961 Atlantic season

Hurricane Carla 1961

Category 4 hurricane · Atlantic · September 3 to September 13, 1961

Carla's 145 mph landfall in Texas on September 11, 1961 ranks the third-strongest of the 95 storms with a landfall record there. With a peak of 145 mph, it ranked the third-strongest of the 12 storms of the 1961 season. It produced 14% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy. The name Carla is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Carla (1961) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N40°N50°N60°N120°W110°W100°W90°W80°W70°W60°W50°W40°W30°WFt. WorthTexas, 145 mphPeak 145 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 400 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Carla (1961) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160Sep 4Sep 6Sep 8Sep 10Sep 12Sep 14Sep 16Sep 18mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 175 miles northwest of Cartagena, Bolívar, Colombia
  2. Tropical storm 180 miles north-northeast of San Andrés, Colombia
  3. Hurricane 230 miles northeast of La Ceiba, Atlántida, Honduras
  4. Major hurricane 145 miles north of Tizimín, Yucatán, Mexico
  5. Peak 110 miles east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas; lowest pressure 927 mb
  6. Landfall Texas
  7. No longer tropical (extratropical low) 20 miles south-southeast of Muskogee, Oklahoma
  8. Last record far out at sea, at 68.0°N, 54.0°W

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind145 mph · tied 85th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure927 mb · tied 44th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy27.3 · 118th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone9.8 days · tied 265th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 1961 season

04080120160200Carla

Storm 3 of 12 in 1961, hurricane 3 of 8; it formed after Betsy and before Debbie. 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
Port Lavaca, Texas0 mi120 mphSeptember 11
Ft. Worth, Texas5 mi40 mphSeptember 12
Ardmore, Oklahoma5 mi40 mphSeptember 13
Cleburne, Texas6 mi40 mphSeptember 12
Killeen, Texas8 mi50 mphSeptember 12
Denton, Texas10 mi40 mphSeptember 13
Victoria, Texas13 mi110 mphSeptember 12
Austin, Texas13 mi65 mphSeptember 12

Every storm within 50 miles of Ft. Worth, Texas

Similar landfalls in Texas

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Texas came closest to Carla's 145 mph:

All 95 storms with a landfall record in Texas

Also peaked at 145 mph

Of 24 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time: