The 1878 season

Unnamed hurricane (1878)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 2 in the North Atlantic between September 9, 1878 and September 23, 1878.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1878 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 9, 1878 to September 23, 1878
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Landfall
No; closest approach 791 km (492 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
17.1
Identifier
AL061878

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 9, 12:0014.0N 35.9WTropical storm
Sep 9, 18:0014.1N 37.0WTropical storm
Sep 10, 00:0014.2N 38.1WTropical storm
Sep 10, 06:0014.3N 39.2WTropical storm
Sep 10, 12:0014.4N 40.3WTropical storm
Sep 10, 18:0014.5N 41.4WTropical storm
Sep 11, 00:0014.6N 42.5WTropical storm
Sep 11, 06:0014.7N 43.6WTropical storm
Sep 11, 12:0014.8N 44.7WTropical storm
Sep 11, 18:0014.9N 45.8WTropical storm
Sep 12, 00:0012.5N 45.0W70 ktHurricane
Sep 12, 06:0012.8N 46.2W70 ktHurricane
Sep 12, 12:0013.2N 47.2W70 ktHurricane
Sep 12, 18:0013.8N 48.0W70 ktHurricane
Sep 13, 00:0014.7N 49.3W70 ktHurricane
Sep 13, 06:0015.8N 50.7W70 ktHurricane
Sep 13, 12:0016.6N 52.0W70 ktHurricane
Sep 13, 18:0017.0N 53.0W70 ktHurricane
Sep 14, 00:0017.2N 53.7W80 ktHurricane
Sep 14, 06:0017.7N 54.4W80 ktHurricane
Sep 14, 12:0018.1N 55.0W80 ktHurricane
Sep 14, 18:0018.4N 55.7W80 ktHurricane
Sep 15, 00:0018.9N 56.4W80 ktHurricane
Sep 15, 06:0019.2N 57.1W80 ktHurricane
Sep 15, 12:0020.0N 57.9W90 ktHurricane
Sep 15, 18:0020.7N 58.3W90 ktHurricane
Sep 16, 00:0021.4N 58.7W90 ktHurricane
Sep 16, 06:0022.0N 59.1W90 ktHurricane
Sep 16, 12:0022.7N 59.5W90 ktHurricane
Sep 16, 18:0023.7N 59.9W90 ktHurricane
Sep 17, 00:0024.7N 60.2W80 ktHurricane
Sep 17, 06:0026.0N 60.4W80 ktHurricane
Sep 17, 12:0027.1N 60.3W80 ktHurricane
Sep 17, 18:0027.7N 60.2W80 ktHurricane
Sep 18, 00:0028.4N 60.1W70 ktHurricane
Sep 18, 06:0029.1N 59.9W70 ktHurricane
Sep 18, 12:0029.7N 59.7W70 ktHurricane
Sep 18, 18:0030.4N 59.4W70 ktHurricane
Sep 19, 00:0027.7N 59.2WTropical storm
Sep 19, 06:0028.1N 59.2WTropical storm
Sep 19, 12:0028.4N 59.1WTropical storm
Sep 19, 18:0028.8N 59.1WTropical storm
Sep 20, 00:0029.2N 59.0WTropical storm
Sep 20, 06:0029.6N 58.9WTropical storm
Sep 20, 12:0029.9N 58.8WTropical storm
Sep 20, 18:0030.4N 58.7WTropical storm
Sep 21, 00:0030.8N 58.5WTropical storm
Sep 21, 06:0031.3N 58.4WTropical storm
Sep 21, 12:0031.7N 58.3WTropical storm
Sep 21, 18:0032.7N 57.6WTropical storm
Sep 22, 00:0034.1N 56.5WTropical storm
Sep 22, 06:0035.3N 55.6WTropical storm
Sep 22, 12:0036.5N 54.7WTropical storm
Sep 22, 18:0038.8N 50.8WTropical storm
Sep 23, 00:0041.0N 47.0WTropical storm
Sep 23, 06:0043.0N 44.0WTropical storm
Sep 23, 12:0045.0N 41.0WTropical storm

Other North Atlantic storms of 1878

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.