Debbie was the fourth named storm of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season. It originated from a well-defined tropical disturbance that was first identified in late August over Central Africa. The system moved off the coast of Senegal on September 5 into the Atlantic Ocean. It passed through the southern Cape Verde Islands as a moderate tropical storm. On September 10, Debbie intensified and reached its peak intensity as a Category 1 hurricane, with maximum winds of 90 mph. Debbie killed 18 people – 12 in the Republic of Ireland and six in the United Kingdom. It caused US$40–50 million in damage in theRepublic and at least £1. 5 million in Northern Ireland.
About Hurricane Debbie (1961) in brief
Debbie was the fourth named storm of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season. It originated from a well-defined tropical disturbance that was first identified in late August over Central Africa. The system moved off the coast of Senegal on September 5 into the Atlantic Ocean. It passed through the southern Cape Verde Islands as a moderate tropical storm, resulting in a plane crash that killed 60 people. On September 10, Debbie intensified and reached its peak intensity as a Category 1 hurricane, with maximum winds of 90 mph. Debbie killed 18 people – 12 in the Republic of Ireland and six in the United Kingdom. It caused US$40–50 million in damage in theRepublic and at least £1. 5 million in Northern Ireland. The remnants of Debbie later weakened and turned eastward, striking Norway and the Soviet Union, before dissipating on September 19. The storm also battered parts of Great Britain with winds in excess of 100 mph and caused extensive damage to barley, corn and wheat crops. Debbie was not classified as a tropical storm until 22:00 UTC on September 22. It was not until an accurate flight encountered the storm on September 10 that its location became certain. During this time, the storm was estimated to have taken a more north-westerly course over the open ocean. During the following three days, virtually no reliable data was available on the hurricane and no reliable estimates on its intensity on its time in the Atlantic.
Debbie’s remnants brought record winds to much of the island, with a peak gust of 114 mph measured just offshore. It also caused widespread damage and disruption, downing tens of thousands of trees and power lines. It later weakened to a tropical cyclone and was classified as an extratropical cyclone by the U.S. Bureau of Meteorology. It is the last named storm to make landfall in Ireland as a hurricane on September 16, 1961. Debbie is the only storm to have been named after a tropical depression or tropical storm in 1961. It has also been the only tropical storm to be known to have made landfall in the UK as a strong tropical storm or low-end hurricane. Debbie has been the subject of a book, “Debbie: The Hurricane That Saved My Life”, written by author David Wheeler. The book was published by the University of California, Los Angeles, and is available on Amazon.com for Kindle, iPad, and other formats. It can also be downloaded from the Amazon Kindle Store for £3.99 (US$4.99) and the Kindle store for £5.49 (UK). The book is also available from the Apple Store for $5 (US) and is on sale from Amazon for £7.99. The Storm of the Year: Debbie, the Hurricane that Saved my Life, by David Wheeler and David Wheeler, is published by The Atlantic Institute for Hurricane Research and the Weather Research Society for £2.95 (UK) and £4.50 (Europe)
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This page is based on the article Hurricane Debbie (1961) published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 21, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
