The 1872 season

Unnamed hurricane (1872)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 2 in the North Atlantic between August 19, 1872 and September 2, 1872.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1872 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 19, 1872 to September 2, 1872
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Landfall
No; closest approach 25 km (16 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
25.8
Identifier
AL021872

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 19, 12:0013.5N 26.5WTropical storm
Aug 19, 18:0013.8N 27.6WTropical storm
Aug 20, 00:0014.3N 29.7W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 06:0014.4N 30.4W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 12:0014.5N 31.0W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 18:0014.7N 32.0W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 21, 00:0015.0N 33.4W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 21, 06:0015.3N 34.8W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 21, 12:0015.4N 35.8W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 21, 18:0015.6N 36.8W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 22, 00:0015.9N 37.8W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 22, 06:0016.1N 38.9W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 22, 12:0016.2N 40.2W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 22, 18:0016.5N 41.4W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 23, 00:0016.7N 42.2W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 23, 06:0017.0N 43.5W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 23, 12:0017.2N 44.7W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 23, 18:0017.7N 45.5W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 24, 00:0018.1N 46.7W70 ktHurricane
Aug 24, 06:0018.5N 47.7W70 ktHurricane
Aug 24, 12:0019.0N 48.9W70 ktHurricane
Aug 24, 18:0019.4N 49.8W70 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 00:0019.7N 50.5W70 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 06:0020.0N 51.4W70 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 12:0020.5N 52.5W70 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 18:0020.9N 53.3W70 ktHurricane
Aug 26, 00:0021.2N 54.2W70 ktHurricane
Aug 26, 06:0021.6N 54.9W70 ktHurricane
Aug 26, 12:0022.0N 55.7W70 ktHurricane
Aug 26, 18:0022.2N 56.2W70 ktHurricane
Aug 27, 00:0022.7N 56.9W70 ktHurricane
Aug 27, 06:0023.1N 57.6W70 ktHurricane
Aug 27, 12:0023.7N 58.4W70 ktHurricane
Aug 27, 18:0024.0N 58.9W70 ktHurricane
Aug 28, 00:0024.5N 59.4W80 ktHurricane
Aug 28, 06:0025.0N 60.0W80 ktHurricane
Aug 28, 12:0025.8N 60.8W80 ktHurricane
Aug 28, 18:0026.8N 61.4W80 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 00:0027.9N 61.8W90 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 06:0028.9N 62.0W90 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 12:0030.0N 62.2W90 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 18:0030.9N 62.2W90 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 00:0031.9N 62.3W90 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 06:0033.0N 62.2W90 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 12:0034.5N 62.0W90 ktHurricane
Aug 30, 18:0035.7N 61.9W90 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 00:0037.0N 61.7W90 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 06:0038.3N 61.2W90 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 12:0039.5N 60.5W80 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 18:0040.5N 59.4W80 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 00:0041.9N 57.7W80 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 06:0043.0N 56.5W80 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 12:0044.2N 55.9W70 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 18:0044.9N 56.2W70 ktHurricane
Sep 2, 00:0045.4N 56.8W70 ktExtratropical
Sep 2, 06:0045.7N 57.6W70 ktExtratropical
Sep 2, 12:0046.5N 58.5W60 ktExtratropical
Sep 2, 18:0047.5N 59.6W50 ktExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1872

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.