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Hurricane Hilda (1964)

Hurricane Hilda was a Category 4 hurricane at its peak, with 138 mph winds and a lowest pressure of 941 mb, per NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Modeled winds reached tropical-storm force (39 mph) at 11 of the cities we track; the strongest was Baton Rouge, LA, with a modeled peak gust of 98 mph.

Peak strength138 mph winds (1-minute)
Category 4
Cities with tropical-storm-force windsModeled, of the cities we track
11
LandfallsFirst September 29, 1964
2
Lowest pressure
941 mb

Track, wind field and cities

Select a piece of the track or a city for details.

  • Depression or weaker
  • Tropical storm
  • Hurricane, Category 1 or 2
  • Major hurricane, Category 3 to 5
  • Landfall
  • City (larger ring, stronger modeled gust)
  • Modeled wind field, 39 to 111 mph sustained (darker, stronger; orange 111 mph+)
Source: NOAA/NWS National Hurricane Center best track (HURDAT2). City winds and the wind field are modeled.

The shaded areas are where our model puts Hurricane Hilda’s sustained winds over open land at 39 mph or more (tropical-storm force), 58, 74 (hurricane force) and 111 mph (major hurricane force) at some point along its track. Modeled, not measured. How we model hurricane winds

Landfalls

  1. September 29, 1964, tropical storm at 40 mph, in Cuba
  2. October 3, 1964, Category 2 at 104 mph, about 58 miles from Lafayette, LA

Modeled winds at cities (11)

Estimated peak winds for open, flat ground at each city’s center. Not measurements. How we model hurricane winds

CityPeak gustSustainedClosest passPeak
Baton Rouge, LA98 mph80 mph8 milesOct 3, 1964, 6:45 PM GMT-5
Lafayette, LA95 mph77 mph41 milesOct 3, 1964, 6:45 PM GMT-5
New Orleans, LA80 mph65 mph41 milesOct 3, 1964, 6:45 PM GMT-5
Slidell, LA72 mph59 mph26 milesOct 3, 1964, 6:45 PM GMT-5
Lake Charles, LA64 mph52 mph108 milesOct 3, 1964, 5:45 PM GMT-5
Gulfport, MS62 mph50 mph17 milesOct 4, 1964, 12:15 PM GMT-5
Tallahassee, FL50 mph41 mph25 milesOct 5, 1964, 7:15 AM GMT-4
Pensacola, FL50 mph41 mph6 milesOct 4, 1964, 11:30 PM GMT-4
Mobile, AL50 mph41 mph8 milesOct 4, 1964, 3:15 PM GMT-5
Daphne, AL50 mph40 mph6 milesOct 4, 1964, 4:00 PM GMT-5
Jacksonville, FL49 mph40 mph46 milesOct 5, 1964, 4:45 PM GMT-4

What happened

Hilda formed off the south coast of Cuba, crossed the Gulf of Mexico and came ashore at Salt Point in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, about dark on October 3, 1964.1,2,3 NHC's best track puts the landfall at 2300 UTC as a Category 2 hurricane with 90-knot (104 mph) winds and a central pressure of 959 mb.4 The highest wind reported was 120 mph at Franklin, Louisiana.5

Gulf water reached 7.8 feet deep at Cocodrie and an estimated 10 feet at Point au Fer.3,5 Jeanerette measured 17.71 inches of rain, and storm surge and rain flooding covered three million acres.3 Tornadoes hit Golden Meadow, Galliano, Larose, Kenner, Metairie and New Orleans, and NWS's Louisiana hurricane history says the Larose tornado alone killed 24 people and injured 345.3 On Lake Pontchartrain, waves broke over the New Orleans lakefront seawall, flooded the ground behind it and damaged fishing camps and businesses built over the water.5

The Weather Bureau's preliminary estimate put damage at about $100 million, and NHC counts 38 deaths from Hilda.6,7

Sources

  1. 1. NOAA Weather Prediction Center: Hurricane Hilda, September 28 to October 5, 1964
  2. 2. U.S. Weather Bureau (NOAA National Hurricane Center archive): Preliminary Report on Hurricane Hilda, September 28 to October 5, 1964, page 1
  3. 3. National Weather Service: Louisiana Hurricane History
  4. 4. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT2), 1851-2025
  5. 5. U.S. Weather Bureau (NOAA National Hurricane Center archive): Preliminary Report on Hurricane Hilda, page 2
  6. 6. U.S. Weather Bureau (NOAA National Hurricane Center archive): Preliminary Report on Hurricane Hilda, page 3
  7. 7. NOAA National Hurricane Center: The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Tropical Cyclones from 1851 to 2010

Best track (39 positions)

TimeStatusWindPressurePosition
Sep 28, 12:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph21.2°N, 80.0°W
Sep 28, 18:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph21.3°N, 81.1°W
Sep 29, 00:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph21.4°N, 82.1°W
Sep 29, 06:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph21.7°N, 83.2°W
Sep 29, 11:00 UTC (landfall)Tropical storm40 mph21.9°N, 84.0°W
Sep 29, 12:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph22.0°N, 84.2°W
Sep 29, 18:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph22.4°N, 85.2°W
Sep 30, 00:00 UTCTropical storm63 mph997 mb22.8°N, 86.2°W
Sep 30, 06:00 UTCTropical storm69 mph994 mb23.1°N, 87.2°W
Sep 30, 12:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane81 mph984 mb23.4°N, 88.2°W
Sep 30, 18:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane92 mph978 mb23.8°N, 89.0°W
Oct 1, 00:00 UTCCategory 2 hurricane98 mph977 mb24.1°N, 89.5°W
Show all 39