The 1885 season

Unnamed hurricane (1885)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between July 30, 1885 and August 15, 1885, with a lowest pressure of 981 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1885 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
July 30, 1885 to August 15, 1885
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
981 mb (28.97 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 275 km (171 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
12.6
Identifier
AL011885

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
Jul 30, 12:0011.5N 23.0WTropical storm
Jul 30, 18:0012.0N 24.5WTropical storm
Jul 31, 00:0012.5N 26.0WTropical storm
Jul 31, 06:0013.0N 27.5WTropical storm
Jul 31, 12:0013.5N 29.0WTropical storm
Jul 31, 18:0013.7N 31.0WTropical storm
Aug 1, 00:0013.8N 33.0WTropical storm
Aug 1, 06:0013.9N 35.0WTropical storm
Aug 1, 12:0014.0N 37.0WTropical storm
Aug 1, 18:0014.2N 38.4WTropical storm
Aug 2, 00:0014.3N 39.8WTropical storm
Aug 2, 06:0014.4N 41.2WTropical storm
Aug 2, 12:0014.5N 42.5WTropical storm
Aug 2, 18:0014.7N 43.5WTropical storm
Aug 3, 00:0014.9N 44.5WTropical storm
Aug 3, 06:0015.1N 45.5WTropical storm
Aug 3, 12:0015.2N 46.5WTropical storm
Aug 3, 18:0015.5N 47.3WTropical storm
Aug 4, 00:0015.8N 48.0WTropical storm
Aug 4, 06:0016.1N 48.8WTropical storm
Aug 4, 12:0016.3N 49.5WTropical storm
Aug 4, 18:0016.8N 50.3WTropical storm
Aug 5, 00:0017.2N 51.0WTropical storm
Aug 5, 06:0017.6N 51.8WTropical storm
Aug 5, 12:0018.0N 52.5WTropical storm
Aug 5, 18:0018.7N 53.2WTropical storm
Aug 6, 00:0019.4N 53.8WTropical storm
Aug 6, 06:0020.1N 54.4WTropical storm
Aug 6, 12:0020.7N 55.0WTropical storm
Aug 6, 18:0021.6N 55.8WTropical storm
Aug 7, 00:0024.1N 58.1W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 7, 06:0024.7N 58.7W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 7, 12:0025.6N 59.1W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 7, 18:0026.5N 59.6W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 8, 00:0027.4N 60.0W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 8, 06:0028.3N 60.3W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 8, 12:0029.2N 60.6W70 ktHurricane
Aug 8, 18:0030.4N 60.7W70 ktHurricane
Aug 9, 00:0031.9N 60.7W70 ktHurricane
Aug 9, 06:0033.0N 60.7W70 ktHurricane
Aug 9, 12:0034.5N 60.6W70 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 9, 18:0036.3N 60.3W70 kt981 mbHurricane
Aug 10, 00:0038.2N 59.3W70 ktHurricane
Aug 10, 06:0040.2N 57.9W70 ktHurricane
Aug 10, 12:0042.0N 56.0W70 kt983 mbHurricane
Aug 10, 18:0043.4N 53.4W80 ktHurricane
Aug 11, 00:0044.8N 50.4W80 ktHurricane
Aug 11, 06:0046.0N 47.2W80 ktHurricane
Aug 11, 12:0047.0N 44.0W80 ktHurricane
Aug 11, 18:0047.5N 42.3W70 ktHurricane
Aug 12, 00:0048.0N 40.3W70 ktHurricane
Aug 12, 06:0048.5N 38.4W70 ktHurricane
Aug 12, 12:0049.2N 36.0W70 ktHurricane
Aug 12, 18:0049.7N 34.5W70 ktHurricane
Aug 13, 00:0050.0N 32.8W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 13, 06:0050.5N 31.4W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 13, 12:0050.9N 30.0W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 13, 18:0051.0N 28.9W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 14, 00:0051.3N 27.6W50 ktExtratropical
Aug 14, 06:0051.5N 26.4W50 ktExtratropical
Aug 14, 12:0051.7N 25.0W50 ktExtratropical
Aug 14, 18:0051.9N 24.2W50 ktExtratropical
Aug 15, 00:0052.2N 23.6W40 ktExtratropical
Aug 15, 06:0052.5N 22.9W40 ktExtratropical
Aug 15, 12:0053.0N 22.0W40 ktExtratropical
Aug 15, 18:0053.5N 21.0W40 ktExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1885

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.