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All storm pages · 1970 Atlantic season

Hurricane Celia 1970

Category 4 hurricane · Atlantic · July 31 to August 5, 1970

No other storm of the 1970 Atlantic season matched Celia's 140 mph peak; the season had 21 storms. It came ashore in Texas as a Category 4 hurricane on August 3, 1970, with 140 mph winds. It produced 14% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy. The name Celia is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Celia (1970) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N25°N30°N105°W100°W95°W90°W85°WCiudad JuárezCuba, 40 mphTexas, 140 mphPeak 140 mphFirst recordDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 400 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Celia (1970) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160Aug 1Aug 2Aug 3Aug 4Aug 5mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 235 miles south of Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, Cuba
  2. Tropical storm 55 miles southwest of Pinar del Rio, Cuba
  3. Landfall Cuba: tropical storm, 40 mph, 1006 mb
  4. Hurricane 185 miles north of Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico
  5. Major hurricane 70 miles east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas
  6. Peak 20 miles east-northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas; lowest pressure 944 mb
  7. Landfall Texas
  8. Last record (tropical depression) 15 miles west of Las Cruces, New Mexico

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind140 mph · tied 110th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure944 mb · tied 140th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy8.3 · 604th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone5.8 days · tied 733rd of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 1970 season

04080120160Celia

Storm 4 of 21 in 1970, hurricane 2 of 7; it formed after Storm 3 of 1970 and before Storm 5 of 1970. 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
Las Cruces, New Mexico9 mi30 mphAugust 5
El Paso, Texas10 mi30 mphAugust 5
Corpus Christi, Texas12 mi125 mphAugust 3
Del Rio, Texas13 mi60 mphAugust 4
Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico15 mi30 mphAugust 5
Eagle Pass, Texas18 mi70 mphAugust 4
Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico20 mi70 mphAugust 4
Beeville, Texas21 mi110 mphAugust 4

Every storm within 50 miles of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico

Similar landfalls in Texas

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Texas came closest to Celia's 140 mph:

All 95 storms with a landfall record in Texas

Also peaked at 140 mph

Of 35 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Betsy (1965)942 mb, landfall in Saint Barthelemy
  • Hilda (1964)941 mb, landfall in Cuba
  • Ella (1978)956 mb, no landfall record
  • Cleo (1958)947 mb, no landfall record