HurricaneTracks
Menu

All storm pages · 1974 Atlantic season

Hurricane Carmen 1974

Category 4 hurricane · Atlantic · August 29 to September 10, 1974

No other storm of the 1974 Atlantic season matched Carmen's 155 mph peak; the season had 16 storms. It generated 39% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy, more than any other 1974 storm. It came ashore in Quintana Roo as a Category 4 hurricane on September 2, 1974, with 155 mph winds. The name Carmen is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Carmen (1974) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N90°W80°W70°W60°WCampecheQuintana Roo, 155 mphLouisiana, 115 mphPeak 155 mphFirst recordDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 400 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Carmen (1974) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160Aug 30Sep 1Sep 3Sep 5Sep 7Sep 9mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 310 miles northeast of Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados
  2. Tropical storm 105 miles south-southwest of Christiansted, the US Virgin Islands
  3. Hurricane 65 miles south-southeast of Port Morant, Saint Thomas, Jamaica
  4. Major hurricane 255 miles north-northeast of Bilwi, Atlántico Norte, Nicaragua
  5. Peak 95 miles east-southeast of Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico; lowest pressure 928 mb
  6. Landfall Quintana Roo
  7. Landfall Quintana Roo: Category 4, 145 mph, 956 mb
  8. Landfall Louisiana: Category 3, 115 mph, 952 mb
  9. Landfall Louisiana: Category 3, 120 mph, 948 mb
  10. Last record (tropical depression) 10 miles northeast of Brownwood, Texas

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind155 mph · tied 45th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure928 mb · tied 49th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy25.4 · 153rd of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone12.2 days · tied 123rd of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

More from the record

Its winds climbed 60 mph in the 24 hours to September 2.

In the 1974 season

04080120160Carmen

Storm 8 of 16 in 1974, hurricane 2 of 4; it formed after Becky and before Dolly. 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
Campeche, Mexico1 mi60 mphSeptember 3
Brownwood, Texas8 mi30 mphSeptember 10
Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico9 mi140 mphSeptember 2
Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, France11 mi35 mphAugust 29
Temple, Texas12 mi30 mphSeptember 10
Killeen, Texas13 mi30 mphSeptember 10
Lafayette, Louisiana17 mi105 mphSeptember 8
New Iberia, Louisiana17 mi115 mphSeptember 8

Every storm within 50 miles of Campeche, Mexico

Similar landfalls in Quintana Roo

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Quintana Roo came closest to Carmen's 155 mph:

All 31 storms with a landfall record in Quintana Roo

Also peaked at 155 mph

Of 11 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time: