The 1886 season

Unnamed hurricane (1886)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 4 in the North Atlantic between August 12, 1886 and August 21, 1886, with a lowest pressure of 925 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1886 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 12, 1886 to August 21, 1886
Peak strength
Category 4, 130 kt (150 mph)
Lowest pressure
925 mb (27.32 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
23.1
Fastest the center moved
18 kt (21 mph)
Identifier
AL051886

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.

Landfall

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Aug 20, 13:00Lamar, TX, 21 km away28.1N 96.8W130 kt (150 mph)925 mb

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 12, 06:0010.5N 58.0W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 12, 12:0011.1N 58.9W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 12, 18:0011.8N 59.8W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 13, 00:0012.5N 60.7W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 13, 06:0013.2N 61.7W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 13, 12:0014.0N 62.7W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 13, 18:0014.6N 63.9W65 ktHurricane
Aug 14, 00:0015.2N 65.2W70 ktHurricane
Aug 14, 06:0015.7N 66.2W75 ktHurricane
Aug 14, 12:0016.3N 67.3W80 ktHurricane
Aug 14, 18:0016.9N 68.3W85 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 00:0017.4N 69.3W85 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 06:0017.9N 70.2W85 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 12:0018.3N 71.3W80 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 18:0018.6N 72.6W75 ktHurricane
Aug 16, 00:0018.8N 73.9W70 ktHurricane
Aug 16, 06:0019.1N 75.2W80 ktHurricane
Aug 16, 12:0019.5N 76.5W85 ktHurricane
Aug 16, 18:0020.4N 77.3W80 ktHurricane
Aug 17, 00:0021.3N 78.1W75 ktHurricane
Aug 17, 06:0022.1N 79.0W70 ktHurricane
Aug 17, 12:0022.5N 79.7W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 17, 18:0023.1N 80.5W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 00:0023.8N 81.7W65 ktHurricane
Aug 18, 06:0024.3N 83.0W70 ktHurricane
Aug 18, 12:0024.7N 84.3W75 ktHurricane
Aug 18, 18:0025.3N 86.1W75 ktHurricane
Aug 19, 00:0025.6N 87.9W80 ktHurricane
Aug 19, 06:0025.9N 89.7W90 ktHurricane
Aug 19, 12:0026.3N 91.9W100 ktHurricane
Aug 19, 18:0026.5N 93.3W110 ktHurricane
Aug 20, 00:0026.8N 94.5W120 ktHurricane
Aug 20, 06:0027.4N 95.6W130 ktHurricane
Aug 20, 12:0028.0N 96.6W130 kt925 mbHurricane
Aug 20, 13:00 landfall28.1N 96.8W130 kt925 mbHurricane
Aug 20, 18:0029.0N 98.0W85 kt965 mbHurricane
Aug 21, 00:0030.0N 99.0W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 21, 06:0031.0N 99.6W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 21, 12:0032.0N 100.7W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 21, 18:0033.5N 101.3W25 ktTropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 1886

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.