Hurricane Edith (1971)

Hurricane Edith

Satellite image of the hurricane on September 9, 1971
Meteorological history
Formed	September 5, 1971 (September 5, 1971)
Dissipated	September 18, 1971 (September 18, 1971)
Category 5 major hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds	160 mph (260 km/h)
Lowest pressure	943 mbar (hPa); 27.85 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities	37 direct
Damage	$25.4 million (1971 USD)
Areas affected	Lesser Antilles, Northern Venezuela, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Yucatán, Northeastern Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina
IBTrACS
Part of the 1971 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Edith was the strongest hurricane to form during the 1971 Atlantic hurricane season and the southernmost landfalling Category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic at the time. Edith developed from a tropical wave on September 5 and quickly strengthened into a hurricane in the Caribbean Sea. Edith rapidly intensified on September 9 and made landfall on Cape Gracias a Dios as a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Being a category 5 hurricane, Edith peaked at only 943 mbar (hPa), making Edith the least intense category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record. It quickly lost intensity over Central America and after briefly entering the Gulf of Honduras it crossed the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. After moving across the Gulf of Mexico a trough turned the storm to the northeast and Edith, after having restrengthened while accelerating towards the coast, made landfall on Louisiana with winds of 105 mph (169 km/h) on September 16. Edith steadily weakened over land and dissipated over Georgia on September 18.

The hurricane killed two people when it passed near Aruba. Striking northeastern Central America as a Category 5 hurricane, Edith destroyed hundreds of homes and killed at least 35 people. In Texas high tides caused coastal flooding but little damage. Edith caused moderate to heavy damage in portions of Louisiana due to flooding and a tornado outbreak from the storm. One tornado, rated F3 on the Fujita Scale, damaged several homes and injured multiple people in Baton Rouge. The tornado outbreak extended eastward into Florida, of which a few destroyed entire buildings. Damage in the United States totaled US$25 million (1971 USD, $188 million 2022 USD).