1963 Atlantic hurricane season (GiedriusforCat5 WMHB)

The 1963 Atlantic hurricane season featured one of the deadliest tropical cyclones on record in the Atlantic basin: Hurricane Ginny. The season officially began on June 15, and lasted until November 15. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. It was a near-average season in terms of tropical storms, with a total of nine named storms. The first system, Hurricane Arlene, developed near the Lesser Antilles on July 31. The storm later passed close to Bermuda, causing minor damage. Other storms such as Beulah and Cindy did not impact land. During the month of September, Tropical Storm Debra made landfall in Texas, causing minor flooding damage, overall resulting in 2 deaths and $5 million in damage. Hurricane Flora passed through the Caribbean, causing 29 deaths and about $57 million in damage, most of which occurred on the island of Hispaniola.

The most significant storm of the season was Hurricane Ginny, which peaked as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Ginny moved slowly through the Caribbean, dropping record breaking amounts of rainfall (over 120 inches or 3048 millimeters) in some places. Extreme flooding ensued, leaving behind at least 10211 fatalities and about $991.7 million in damage. Ginny is thus listed among the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes on record. In October, Hurricane Helena moved erratically offshore the state of Florida, though eventually, it struck Nova Scotia as a weakening hurricane. Helena caused at least 11 deaths and $1.3 million in damage along its track. The final cyclone, Tropical Storm Irene, caused 7 deaths and over $800,000 in damage on Guadeloupe. Overall, the storms in this season caused at least 10260 deaths and about $1.0558 billion in damage.

Storm names
The following names were used for named storms (tropical storms and hurricanes) that formed in the North Atlantic in 1963. Storms were named Ginny and Helena for the first time in 1963. The name Ginny was later retired. Names that were not assigned are marked in.