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All storm pages · 1960 Atlantic season

Hurricane Donna 1960

Category 4 hurricane · Atlantic · August 29 to September 13, 1960

Donna held major-hurricane strength (Category 3 or higher) for 192 hours, tied for the sixth-longest spell among Atlantic hurricanes. Its 125 mph landfall in Antigua and Barbuda on September 4, 1960 ranks the second-strongest of the 12 storms with a landfall record there. It has landfall records in 7 different places: Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Martin, the Bahamas, Florida, North Carolina, New York and Connecticut. The name Donna is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Donna (1960) from the best-track record, coloured by strength10°N20°N30°N40°N50°N60°N90°W80°W70°W60°W50°W40°W30°W20°W10°WSanfordAntigua and Barbuda, 125 mphSaint Martin, 125 mphBahamas, 120 mphFlorida, 145 mphNorth Carolina, 105 mphNew York, 100 mphConnecticut, 90 mphPeak 145 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 400 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Donna (1960) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160Aug 30Sep 1Sep 3Sep 5Sep 7Sep 9Sep 11Sep 13mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) far out at sea, at 10.2°N, 22.8°W
  2. Tropical storm far out at sea, at 11.1°N, 33.1°W
  3. Hurricane 1,065 miles east-northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  4. Major hurricane 690 miles east of Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados
  5. Landfall Antigua and Barbuda
  6. Landfall Saint Martin: Category 3, 125 mph, 952 mb
  7. Peak 155 miles north-northeast of Puerto Plata, the Dominican Republic; lowest pressure 930 mb
  8. Landfall Bahamas: Category 3, 120 mph, 947 mb
  9. Landfall Bahamas: Category 3, 120 mph, 945 mb
  10. Landfall Florida: Category 4, 145 mph, 930 mb
  11. Landfall Florida: Category 3, 120 mph, 942 mb
  12. Landfall North Carolina: Category 2, 105 mph, 958 mb
  13. Landfall New York: Category 2, 100 mph, 959 mb
  14. Landfall Connecticut: Category 1, 90 mph, 962 mb
  15. No longer tropical (extratropical low) 40 miles south-southwest of Edmundston, New Brunswick, Canada
  16. Last record 890 miles north-northeast of Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind145 mph · tied 85th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure930 mb · tied 60th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy49.2 · 17th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone14.2 days · tied 57th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

More from the record

No other storm of the 1960 Atlantic season matched its 145 mph peak; the season had 8 storms.

It generated 68% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy, more than any other 1960 storm.

In the 1960 season

04080120160Donna

Storm 5 of 8 in 1960, hurricane 3 of 4; it formed after Cleo and before Storm 8 of 1960. 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
Lowell, Massachusetts1 mi70 mphSeptember 12
Winter Haven, Florida1 mi80 mphSeptember 11
Ft. Myers, Florida2 mi115 mphSeptember 10
Naples, Florida4 mi120 mphSeptember 10
Worcester, Massachusetts8 mi80 mphSeptember 12
Palm Coast, Florida8 mi85 mphSeptember 11
Cape Coral, Florida9 mi115 mphSeptember 10
Sanford, Florida10 mi80 mphSeptember 11

Every storm within 50 miles of Lowell, Massachusetts

Similar landfalls in Florida

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Florida came closest to Donna's 145 mph:

All 229 storms with a landfall record in Florida

Also peaked at 145 mph

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