Historical record — not a forecast
Bar Harbor
Bar Harbor, ME has had 20 storms pass within 75 km since 1851, the strongest being Gerda (1969, Category 1 Hurricane).
Location 01
Bar Harbor
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The historical record
Storm history
20 tropical storms and hurricanes have passed within 75 km of Bar Harbor since 1851, based on NOAA’s HURDAT2 best-track data (1851-2025). Atlantic storm counts before the mid-20th century undercount storms that stayed at sea; aircraft reconnaissance began in the 1940s and systematic satellite coverage in 1966. Storms that struck populated coastline are the most reliably recorded part of the record.
By storm category
- Tropical Depression
- 3
- Tropical Storm
- 14
- Category 1 Hurricane
- 3
By decade
- 1880s
- 4
- 1900s
- 1
- 1910s
- 1
- 1930s
- 2
- 1940s
- 2
- 1950s
- 3
- 1960s
- 1
- 1970s
- 2
- 1990s
- 2
- 2000s
- 1
- 2020s
- 1
Strongest & most recent
- Strongest on record
- Gerda (1969, Category 1 Hurricane, 75 kt) passed within 70.8 km in 1969
- Most recent
- Elsa (2021, Tropical Storm, 40 kt) passed within 43.0 km in 2021
- Coordinates
- 44.38131, -68.21113
- Basin
- atlantic
Notable storms on record
- Gerda (1969) — Category 1 Hurricane, 75 kt, passed within 70.8 km on 1969-09-10
- Edna (1954) — Category 1 Hurricane, 70 kt, passed within 65.2 km on 1954-09-12
- Unnamed storm (1885) — Category 1 Hurricane, 70 kt, passed within 60.1 km on 1885-09-23
- Unnamed storm (1880) — Tropical Storm, 60 kt, passed within 63.3 km on 1880-10-23
- Bertha (1996) — Tropical Storm, 55 kt, passed within 70.2 km on 1996-07-14
- Unnamed storm (1944) — Tropical Storm, 55 kt, passed within 30.6 km on 1944-09-15
- Unnamed storm (1932) — Tropical Storm, 55 kt, passed within 58.8 km on 1932-09-17
- Carrie (1972) — Tropical Storm, 50 kt, passed within 73.1 km on 1972-09-04
Historical return intervals
These are plain historical averages — years of record divided by how many times a storm of that strength has passed within 75 km. They are not a probability or a forecast of a future storm; they describe how often storms of each strength have occurred in the past.
- Tropical storm strength or greater
- on average every 10.3 years, historically
- Hurricane strength
- on average every 58.3 years, historically
- Major hurricane (Cat 3+)
- none on record
How many hurricanes and storms have hit near Bar Harbor?
Since 1851, 20 tropical storms and hurricanes have passed within 75 km of Bar Harbor, ME, based on NOAA HURDAT2 best-track data.
What was the strongest storm to affect Bar Harbor?
Gerda (1969, Category 1 Hurricane, 75 kt) passed within 70.8 km in 1969, reaching Category 1 Hurricane strength.
Is this a hurricane forecast for Bar Harbor?
No. This page presents only historical, already-occurred storm data. It contains no forecast, prediction, or safety or evacuation guidance. Return-interval figures above are historical averages, not a probability of a future storm. See our methodology.