Unnamed hurricane (1878)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 3 in the North Atlantic between October 10, 1878 and October 19, 1878, with a lowest pressure of 951 mb.

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: October 10, 1878 to October 19, 1878
Peak strength: Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure: 951 mb (28.08 inHg)
Landfall: No; closest approach 182 km (113 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy: 17.9
Identifier: AL101878

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)	Position	Wind	Pressure	Status
Oct 10, 06:00	18.1N 17.8W			Tropical storm
Oct 10, 12:00	18.2N 19.2W			Tropical storm
Oct 10, 18:00	18.3N 20.7W			Tropical storm
Oct 11, 00:00	18.4N 22.0W			Tropical storm
Oct 11, 06:00	18.5N 23.5W			Tropical storm
Oct 11, 12:00	18.6N 25.0W			Tropical storm
Oct 11, 18:00	18.7N 26.4W			Tropical storm
Oct 12, 00:00	18.8N 27.9W			Tropical storm
Oct 12, 06:00	18.9N 29.3W			Tropical storm
Oct 12, 12:00	18.9N 30.8W			Tropical storm
Oct 12, 18:00	19.0N 32.2W			Tropical storm
Oct 13, 00:00	16.6N 36.2W	40 kt		Tropical storm
Oct 13, 06:00	16.5N 36.9W	40 kt		Tropical storm
Oct 13, 12:00	16.4N 37.7W	40 kt		Tropical storm
Oct 13, 18:00	16.2N 38.5W	40 kt		Tropical storm
Oct 14, 00:00	16.2N 39.5W	50 kt		Tropical storm
Oct 14, 06:00	16.2N 40.3W	50 kt		Tropical storm
Oct 14, 12:00	16.2N 41.2W	50 kt		Tropical storm
Oct 14, 18:00	16.2N 42.2W	50 kt		Tropical storm
Oct 15, 00:00	16.6N 43.3W	60 kt		Tropical storm
Oct 15, 06:00	16.7N 44.5W	60 kt		Tropical storm
Oct 15, 12:00	17.0N 45.5W	70 kt		Hurricane
Oct 15, 18:00	17.5N 46.7W	70 kt		Hurricane
Oct 16, 00:00	18.0N 47.8W	80 kt		Hurricane
Oct 16, 06:00	18.9N 48.9W	80 kt		Hurricane
Oct 16, 12:00	19.7N 49.7W	90 kt		Hurricane
Oct 16, 18:00	20.5N 50.5W	90 kt		Hurricane
Oct 17, 00:00	21.6N 51.4W	100 kt		Hurricane
Oct 17, 06:00	22.7N 52.2W	100 kt		Hurricane
Oct 17, 12:00	23.9N 53.0W	100 kt		Hurricane
Oct 17, 18:00	25.2N 53.9W	100 kt		Hurricane
Oct 18, 00:00	26.8N 54.8W	100 kt		Hurricane
Oct 18, 06:00	28.3N 55.7W	100 kt		Hurricane
Oct 18, 12:00	29.8N 56.2W	100 kt		Hurricane
Oct 18, 18:00	31.0N 56.8W	100 kt	951 mb	Hurricane
Oct 19, 00:00	31.9N 57.2W	100 kt		Hurricane
Oct 19, 06:00	32.8N 57.4W	100 kt		Hurricane
Oct 19, 12:00	33.5N 57.6W	90 kt		Hurricane
Oct 19, 18:00	34.5N 57.8W	90 kt		Hurricane

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.