The 1866 season

Unnamed hurricane (1866)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 4 in the North Atlantic between September 20, 1866 and October 7, 1866, with a lowest pressure of 938 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1866 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
September 20, 1866 to October 7, 1866
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Lowest pressure
938 mb (27.70 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 60 km (37 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
40.9
Identifier
AL061866

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
Sep 20, 12:0011.3N 18.5WTropical storm
Sep 20, 18:0011.4N 20.3WTropical storm
Sep 21, 00:0011.4N 22.0WTropical storm
Sep 21, 06:0011.5N 23.8WTropical storm
Sep 21, 12:0011.5N 25.5WTropical storm
Sep 21, 18:0011.7N 26.7WTropical storm
Sep 22, 00:0011.8N 27.9WTropical storm
Sep 22, 06:0011.9N 29.1WTropical storm
Sep 22, 12:0012.0N 30.2WTropical storm
Sep 22, 18:0012.2N 31.4WTropical storm
Sep 23, 00:0012.3N 32.6WTropical storm
Sep 23, 06:0012.5N 33.9WTropical storm
Sep 23, 12:0012.8N 35.2WTropical storm
Sep 23, 18:0013.1N 36.4WTropical storm
Sep 24, 00:0013.2N 35.0W80 ktHurricane
Sep 24, 06:0013.3N 36.0W80 ktHurricane
Sep 24, 12:0013.4N 37.0W80 ktHurricane
Sep 24, 18:0013.6N 38.0W80 ktHurricane
Sep 25, 00:0013.9N 39.4W80 ktHurricane
Sep 25, 06:0014.2N 40.7W80 ktHurricane
Sep 25, 12:0014.5N 42.0W80 ktHurricane
Sep 25, 18:0014.8N 43.2W80 ktHurricane
Sep 26, 00:0015.1N 44.3W80 ktHurricane
Sep 26, 06:0015.5N 45.7W80 ktHurricane
Sep 26, 12:0015.8N 47.0W80 ktHurricane
Sep 26, 18:0016.0N 48.0W80 ktHurricane
Sep 27, 00:0016.2N 49.5W80 ktHurricane
Sep 27, 06:0016.6N 50.9W80 ktHurricane
Sep 27, 12:0017.0N 52.5W80 ktHurricane
Sep 27, 18:0017.2N 53.9W80 ktHurricane
Sep 28, 00:0017.5N 55.1W90 ktHurricane
Sep 28, 06:0017.9N 56.7W90 ktHurricane
Sep 28, 12:0018.2N 58.2W90 ktHurricane
Sep 28, 18:0018.5N 59.5W90 ktHurricane
Sep 29, 00:0018.7N 60.7W100 ktHurricane
Sep 29, 06:0019.1N 62.3W100 ktHurricane
Sep 29, 12:0019.4N 63.7W100 ktHurricane
Sep 29, 18:0019.7N 64.9W100 ktHurricane
Sep 30, 00:0020.2N 66.3W100 ktHurricane
Sep 30, 06:0020.6N 67.6W100 ktHurricane
Sep 30, 12:0020.9N 69.0W100 ktHurricane
Sep 30, 18:0021.2N 70.4W100 ktHurricane
Oct 1, 00:0021.6N 71.9W110 ktHurricane
Oct 1, 06:0022.0N 73.6W110 ktHurricane
Oct 1, 12:0022.5N 75.0W120 ktHurricane
Oct 1, 18:0023.4N 76.1W120 ktHurricane
Oct 2, 00:0024.5N 77.1W120 kt938 mbHurricane
Oct 2, 06:0025.9N 77.6W120 ktHurricane
Oct 2, 12:0027.3N 77.9W110 ktHurricane
Oct 2, 18:0028.0N 77.8W110 ktHurricane
Oct 3, 00:0028.5N 77.6W100 ktHurricane
Oct 3, 06:0029.3N 77.1W100 ktHurricane
Oct 3, 12:0030.5N 76.3W90 ktHurricane
Oct 3, 18:0032.0N 75.0W90 ktHurricane
Oct 4, 00:0033.5N 73.1W90 ktHurricane
Oct 4, 06:0034.7N 71.0W90 ktHurricane
Oct 4, 12:0036.0N 68.5W80 ktHurricane
Oct 4, 18:0037.5N 65.3W80 ktHurricane
Oct 5, 00:0039.0N 62.1W80 ktHurricane
Oct 5, 06:0040.7N 58.4W80 ktHurricane
Oct 5, 12:0042.0N 54.5W70 ktHurricane
Oct 5, 18:0043.0N 50.0W70 ktHurricane
Oct 6, 00:0040.8N 51.0WTropical storm
Oct 6, 06:0041.7N 49.0WTropical storm
Oct 6, 12:0042.5N 47.0WTropical storm
Oct 6, 18:0043.6N 45.0WTropical storm
Oct 7, 00:0044.7N 43.0WTropical storm
Oct 7, 06:0045.5N 41.0WTropical storm
Oct 7, 12:0046.4N 39.0WTropical storm

Other North Atlantic storms of 1866

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.