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All storm pages · 1974 Atlantic season

Hurricane Fifi 1974

Category 2 hurricane · Atlantic · September 15 to September 21, 1974

Fifi's 85 mph landfall in Belize on September 19, 1974 ranks tied for the sixth-strongest of the 24 storms with a landfall record there. With a peak of 100 mph, it ranked tied for the third-strongest of the 16 storms of the 1974 season. It produced 13% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy. The name Fifi is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Fifi (1974) from the best-track record, coloured by strength15°N20°N95°W90°W85°W80°W75°W70°WOaxacaSan Cristobal de Las CasasBelize, 85 mphPeak 100 mphFirst recordDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 200 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Fifi (1974) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 404080120Sep 16Sep 17Sep 18Sep 19Sep 20Sep 21mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 165 miles north-northeast of Oranjestad, Aruba
  2. Tropical storm 85 miles south-southwest of Les Cayes, Sud, Haiti
  3. Hurricane 180 miles southwest of Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, Jamaica
  4. Peak 155 miles north of Bilwi, Atlántico Norte, Nicaragua; lowest pressure 970 mb
  5. Landfall Belize
  6. Last record (tropical depression) 50 miles west-southwest of Huajuapan de León, Oaxaca, Mexico

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind100 mph · tied 515th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure970 mb · tied 360th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy8.2 · 610th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone6.5 days · tied 636th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 1974 season

04080120160Fifi

Storm 12 of 16 in 1974, hurricane 3 of 4; it formed after Storm 11 of 1974 and before Storm 16 of 1974. 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
Flores, Petén, Guatemala12 mi65 mphSeptember 20
San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico13 mi45 mphSeptember 20
Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico16 mi40 mphSeptember 20
Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, Mexico16 mi35 mphSeptember 21
Huajuapan de León, Oaxaca, Mexico21 mi30 mphSeptember 21
Oaxaca, Mexico24 mi35 mphSeptember 21
La Ceiba, Atlántida, Honduras25 mi100 mphSeptember 19
El Cayo, Cayo, Belize33 mi70 mphSeptember 19

Every storm within 50 miles of Oaxaca, Mexico

Similar landfalls in Belize

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Belize came closest to Fifi's 85 mph:

  • Earl (2016)85 mph, August 4, 2016
  • Anna (1961)85 mph, July 24, 1961
  • Lisa (2022)90 mph, November 2, 2022
  • Abby (1960)80 mph, July 15, 1960

All 24 storms with a landfall record in Belize

Also peaked at 100 mph

Of 85 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Storm 18 of 1970974 mb, no landfall record
  • Storm 19 of 1970995 mb, no landfall record
  • Flossie (1978)976 mb, no landfall record
  • Francelia (1969)973 mb, landfall in Belize