The 1856 season

Unnamed hurricane (1856)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 3 in the North Atlantic between August 21, 1856 and September 3, 1856, with a lowest pressure of 969 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1856 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
August 21, 1856 to September 3, 1856
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
969 mb (28.61 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
22.7
Identifier
AL051856

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 21, 12:0013.4N 58.0WTropical storm
Aug 21, 18:0013.9N 59.1WTropical storm
Aug 22, 00:0014.4N 60.2WTropical storm
Aug 22, 06:0015.0N 61.2WTropical storm
Aug 22, 12:0015.5N 62.3WTropical storm
Aug 22, 18:0015.9N 63.2WTropical storm
Aug 23, 00:0016.3N 64.0WTropical storm
Aug 23, 06:0016.7N 64.9WTropical storm
Aug 23, 12:0017.3N 65.7WTropical storm
Aug 23, 18:0017.7N 66.6WTropical storm
Aug 24, 00:0018.1N 67.5WTropical storm
Aug 24, 06:0018.5N 68.3WTropical storm
Aug 24, 12:0018.9N 69.2WTropical storm
Aug 24, 18:0019.2N 70.1WTropical storm
Aug 25, 00:0021.0N 69.8W70 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 06:0021.0N 70.8W70 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 12:0021.1N 71.9W70 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 18:0021.2N 72.8W70 ktHurricane
Aug 26, 00:0021.6N 73.9W70 ktHurricane
Aug 26, 06:0021.7N 74.8W70 ktHurricane
Aug 26, 12:0022.0N 75.9W80 ktHurricane
Aug 26, 18:0022.2N 76.6W80 ktHurricane
Aug 27, 00:0022.4N 77.6W80 ktHurricane
Aug 27, 06:0022.6N 78.6W80 ktHurricane
Aug 27, 12:0022.7N 79.5W90 ktHurricane
Aug 27, 18:0022.7N 80.6W80 ktHurricane
Aug 28, 00:0022.9N 81.6W80 ktHurricane
Aug 28, 06:0023.0N 82.9W90 kt969 mbHurricane
Aug 28, 12:0023.2N 84.0W90 ktHurricane
Aug 28, 18:0023.6N 84.6W90 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 00:0023.9N 85.1W90 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 06:0024.2N 85.6W90 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 12:0024.7N 86.4W90 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 18:0024.9N 86.8W90 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 00:0025.2N 87.1W100 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 06:0025.6N 87.3W100 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 12:0026.2N 87.4W100 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 18:0027.5N 87.3W100 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 00:0028.9N 86.6W90 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 06:00 landfall30.2N 85.9W90 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 12:0031.1N 84.8W70 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 18:0032.2N 83.3W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 1, 00:0033.0N 81.6W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 1, 06:0034.0N 79.6W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 1, 12:0034.7N 77.9W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 1, 18:0035.5N 75.3W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 2, 00:0036.3N 72.8W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 2, 06:0036.8N 70.0W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 2, 12:0037.2N 67.3W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 2, 18:0037.7N 64.6W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 3, 00:0038.2N 61.8W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 3, 06:0038.8N 58.6W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 3, 12:0039.0N 56.0W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 3, 18:0039.5N 52.3W50 ktTropical storm

Other North Atlantic storms of 1856

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.