The 1871 season

Unnamed hurricane (1871)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 3 in the North Atlantic between August 17, 1871 and August 31, 1871, with a lowest pressure of 962 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1871 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
August 17, 1871 to August 31, 1871
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
962 mb (28.41 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
25.4
Identifier
AL041871

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 17, 00:0011.2N 30.7W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 17, 06:0011.5N 32.2W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 17, 12:0011.8N 33.9W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 17, 18:0012.3N 35.5W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 00:0012.9N 37.4W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 06:0013.5N 39.2W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 12:0014.0N 41.0W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 18:0014.2N 42.5W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 19, 00:0014.3N 44.5W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 19, 06:0014.5N 46.4W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 19, 12:0014.7N 48.0W70 ktHurricane
Aug 19, 18:0014.9N 49.9W70 ktHurricane
Aug 20, 00:0015.1N 52.2W80 ktHurricane
Aug 20, 06:0015.3N 54.5W80 ktHurricane
Aug 20, 12:0015.4N 56.4W90 ktHurricane
Aug 20, 18:0015.8N 58.2W90 ktHurricane
Aug 21, 00:0016.4N 60.0W100 ktHurricane
Aug 21, 06:0017.1N 61.6W100 ktHurricane
Aug 21, 12:0017.7N 62.9W100 kt965 mbHurricane
Aug 21, 18:0018.2N 64.0W100 kt964 mbHurricane
Aug 22, 00:0018.9N 65.3W100 kt962 mbHurricane
Aug 22, 06:0019.5N 66.5W100 ktHurricane
Aug 22, 12:0020.0N 67.5W90 ktHurricane
Aug 22, 18:0020.7N 68.6W90 ktHurricane
Aug 23, 00:0021.2N 69.6W90 ktHurricane
Aug 23, 06:0022.0N 71.0W90 ktHurricane
Aug 23, 12:0022.5N 72.3W90 ktHurricane
Aug 23, 18:0023.2N 73.5W90 ktHurricane
Aug 24, 00:0024.1N 75.0W90 ktHurricane
Aug 24, 06:0025.0N 76.4W90 ktHurricane
Aug 24, 12:0025.7N 77.6W90 ktHurricane
Aug 24, 18:0026.3N 78.6W90 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 00:0027.0N 79.5W90 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 05:00 landfall27.1N 80.3W90 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 06:0027.7N 80.5W90 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 12:0028.3N 81.3W70 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 18:0028.9N 82.2W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 00:0029.4N 83.1W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 06:0029.9N 83.8W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 12:0030.5N 84.3W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 18:0030.9N 84.5W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 27, 00:0031.3N 84.5W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 27, 06:0031.7N 84.4W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 27, 12:0032.0N 84.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 27, 18:0032.1N 83.5W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 28, 00:0032.2N 83.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 28, 06:0032.2N 82.5W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 28, 12:0032.3N 82.1W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 28, 18:0032.4N 81.0W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 29, 00:0032.5N 79.9W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 29, 06:0032.7N 78.6W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 29, 12:0033.0N 77.5W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 29, 18:0034.0N 76.1W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 00:0035.5N 74.3W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 06:0037.3N 72.4W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 12:0039.5N 70.5W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 18:0042.0N 68.5W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 31, 00:0040.2N 70.7WTropical storm
Aug 31, 06:0042.4N 68.0WTropical storm
Aug 31, 12:0044.8N 65.2WTropical storm
Aug 31, 18:0047.2N 62.4WExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1871

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.