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All storm pages · 1963 Atlantic season

Hurricane Flora 1963

Category 4 hurricane · Atlantic · September 28 to October 11, 1963

Flora's 150 mph landfall in Haiti on October 4, 1963 ranks tied for the strongest of the 10 storms with a landfall record there. It reached hurricane strength as far south as 10.3°N, tied for the fifth-lowest-latitude hurricane position of any Atlantic hurricane. It has landfall records in 3 different places: Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti and Cuba. The name Flora is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Flora (1963) from the best-track record, coloured by strength10°N20°N30°N40°N50°N60°N100°W90°W80°W70°W60°W50°W40°W30°W20°W10°WTrinidad and Tobago, 105 mphHaiti, 150 mphCuba, 120 mphPeak 150 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 400 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Flora (1963) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160Sep 29Oct 1Oct 3Oct 5Oct 7Oct 9Oct 11Oct 13Oct 15Oct 17mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 650 miles east-northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  2. Tropical storm 330 miles north-northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  3. Hurricane 285 miles north-northeast of Georgetown, East Berbice-Corentyne, Guyana
  4. Landfall Trinidad and Tobago: Category 2, 105 mph, 974 mb
  5. Major hurricane 150 miles northeast of Willemstad, Curacao
  6. Peak 70 miles south of Jacmel, Sud-Est, Haiti; lowest pressure 933 mb
  7. Landfall Haiti
  8. Landfall Cuba: Category 3, 120 mph, 973 mb
  9. Landfall Cuba: Category 2, 100 mph
  10. No longer tropical (extratropical low) 505 miles south-southeast of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
  11. Last record far out at sea, at 62.8°N, 33.5°W

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind150 mph · tied 57th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure933 mb · tied 74th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy40.1 · 41st of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone13.2 days · tied 86th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

More from the record

No other storm of the 1963 Atlantic season matched its 150 mph peak; the season had 10 storms.

It generated 36% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy, more than any other 1963 storm.

In the 1963 season

04080120160Flora

Storm 8 of 10 in 1963, hurricane 6 of 7; it formed after Edith and before Ginny. 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
Bayamo, Granma, Cuba1 mi80 mphOctober 5
Manzanillo, Granma, Cuba4 mi85 mphOctober 6
Guantánamo, Cuba4 mi120 mphOctober 4
Camagüey, Cuba6 mi70 mphOctober 7
Las Tunas, Cuba10 mi65 mphOctober 8
Holguín, Cuba14 mi100 mphOctober 5
Banes, Holguín, Cuba17 mi70 mphOctober 8
Jérémie, Grand'Anse, Haiti23 mi120 mphOctober 4

Every storm within 50 miles of Camagüey, Cuba

Similar landfalls in Haiti

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Haiti came closest to Flora's 150 mph:

All 10 storms with a landfall record in Haiti

Also peaked at 150 mph

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

  • Cleo (1964)938 mb, landfall in Guadeloupe
  • Helene (1958)930 mb, no landfall record
  • Edith (1971)943 mb, landfall in Nicaragua
  • Easy (1951)937 mb, no landfall record