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All storm pages · 1971 Atlantic season

Hurricane Edith 1971

Category 4 hurricane · Atlantic · September 5 to September 18, 1971

Edith's 150 mph landfall in Nicaragua on September 9, 1971 ranks the second-strongest of the 27 storms with a landfall record there. It has landfall records in 3 different places: Nicaragua, Belize and Louisiana. No other storm of the 1971 Atlantic season matched its 150 mph peak; the season had 17 storms.

Track of Edith (1971) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N90°W80°W70°W60°WBirminghamCampecheNicaragua, 150 mphBelize, 70 mphLouisiana, 90 mphPeak 150 mphFirst recordDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 400 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Edith (1971) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160Sep 6Sep 8Sep 10Sep 12Sep 14Sep 16Sep 18mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 175 miles southeast of Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados
  2. Tropical storm 90 miles east-northeast of Willemstad, Curacao
  3. Hurricane 140 miles north-northwest of Riohacha, La Guajira, Colombia
  4. Major hurricane 145 miles northeast of San Andrés, Colombia
  5. Peak 60 miles north-northeast of Bilwi, Atlántico Norte, Nicaragua; lowest pressure 943 mb
  6. Landfall Nicaragua
  7. Landfall Belize: tropical storm, 70 mph
  8. Landfall Louisiana: Category 1, 90 mph, 978 mb
  9. Last record (tropical depression) 25 miles west-northwest of Athens, Georgia

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind150 mph · tied 57th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure943 mb · tied 134th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy16.9 · 311th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone12.8 days · tied 103rd of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

More from the record

Its winds climbed 60 mph in the 24 hours to September 9.

In the 1971 season

04080120160Edith

Storm 10 of 17 in 1971, hurricane 3 of 6; it formed after Storm 12 of 1971 and before Ginger. Edith produced 15% 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
Lafayette, Louisiana1 mi80 mphSeptember 16
Orange Walk, Belize2 mi65 mphSeptember 11
Campeche, Mexico3 mi45 mphSeptember 11
Marietta, Georgia5 mi25 mphSeptember 18
Meridian, Mississippi6 mi40 mphSeptember 17
Belize City, Belize, Belize7 mi70 mphSeptember 11
Tuscaloosa, Alabama8 mi35 mphSeptember 17
Birmingham, Alabama9 mi30 mphSeptember 17

Every storm within 50 miles of Birmingham, Alabama

Similar landfalls in Nicaragua

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Nicaragua came closest to Edith's 150 mph:

All 27 storms with a landfall record in Nicaragua

Also peaked at 150 mph

Of 27 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Gladys (1975)939 mb, no landfall record
  • Cleo (1964)938 mb, landfall in Guadeloupe
  • Flora (1963)933 mb, landfall in Trinidad and Tobago
  • Helene (1958)930 mb, no landfall record