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All storm pages · 1955 Atlantic season

Hurricane Hilda 1955

Category 3 hurricane · Atlantic · September 12 to September 20, 1955

Hilda's 120 mph landfall in Veracruz on September 19, 1955 ranks tied for the strongest of the 41 storms with a landfall record there. It has landfall records in 4 different places: Cuba, the Cayman Islands, Quintana Roo and Veracruz. Its winds climbed 60 mph in the 24 hours to September 15.

Track of Hilda (1955) from the best-track record, coloured by strength15°N20°N25°N100°W95°W90°W85°W80°W75°W70°WCuba, 80 mphCayman Islands, 75 mphQuintana Roo, 120 mphVeracruz, 120 mphPeak 120 mphFirst recordDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 300 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Hilda (1955) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 404080120160Sep 13Sep 14Sep 15Sep 16Sep 17Sep 18Sep 19Sep 20mph
  1. First record (tropical storm) 55 miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico
  2. Hurricane 45 miles northeast of Puerto Plata, the Dominican Republic
  3. Landfall Cuba: Category 1, 80 mph, 986 mb
  4. Landfall Cayman Islands: Category 1, 75 mph, 995 mb
  5. Major hurricane 190 miles east-southeast of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
  6. Peak, 120 mph 135 miles southeast of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico; lowest pressure 952 mb
  7. Landfall Quintana Roo: Category 3, 120 mph
  8. Landfall Veracruz
  9. Last record (tropical depression) 20 miles southeast of Cardenas, San Luis Potosí, Mexico

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind120 mph · tied 221st of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure952 mb · tied 192nd of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy18.4 · 277th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone8.2 days · tied 412th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 1955 season

04080120160200Hilda

Storm 9 of 13 in 1955, hurricane 6 of 9; it formed after Ione and before Janet. Hilda produced 12% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy and ranks fourth by peak wind. 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
Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico0 mi120 mphSeptember 19
Tekax, Yucatán, Mexico0 mi70 mphSeptember 16
Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, Mexico2 mi120 mphSeptember 19
Guantánamo, Cuba3 mi70 mphSeptember 14
Peto, Yucatán, Mexico4 mi80 mphSeptember 16
Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosí, Mexico4 mi40 mphSeptember 19
Santiago de Cuba, Cuba5 mi65 mphSeptember 14
Ticul, Yucatán, Mexico8 mi70 mphSeptember 17

Every storm within 50 miles of Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico

Similar landfalls in Quintana Roo

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Quintana Roo came closest to Hilda's 120 mph:

All 31 storms with a landfall record in Quintana Roo

Also peaked at 120 mph

Of 59 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Betsy (1956)954 mb, no landfall record
  • Charlie (1952)958 mb, no landfall record
  • Hannah (1959)959 mb, no landfall record
  • Easy (1950)960 mb, landfall in Cuba