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Storms That Hit

NHC AL051961 · Atlantic basin

Hurricane Esther (1961)

September 10, 1961 – September 27, 1961

Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated

Hurricane Esther peaked at Category 5 with 161 mph sustained winds and passed within 75 miles of 517 US cities, 41 of them while still at hurricane strength.

Esther in the record

HURDAT2 tracks Esther from September 10, 1961 to September 27, 1961; its peak was 161 mph (Category 5). HURDAT2 marks 3 landfalls within 50 miles of a US city on this site, the first on September 26 at 58 mph (tropical storm), 11 miles from Nantucket, MA. Its centre passed within 75 miles of 517 US cities, in 6 states, most in Massachusetts (229) and Maine (138). The strongest pass was 87 mph (Category 1) 75 miles from Mastic Beach, NY; the centre came closest to Dennis, MA, less than a mile away.

Peak strength
Category 5

161 mph

Cities within 75 mi
517
At hurricane strength
41

when closest

States
6
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Cities Esther passed near, strongest first

New York (23)

Rhode Island (44)

Connecticut (9)

Massachusetts (229)

and 169 more

New Hampshire (74)

and 14 more

Maine (138)

and 78 more

Other storms of the 1961 season

All hurricanes and tropical storms →

About this record

The track is the National Hurricane Center's best-track record, revised after the season with every observation available. Strength at a city is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, not the wind that city measured.