The 1887 season

Unnamed hurricane (1887)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between October 29, 1887 and November 6, 1887, with a lowest pressure of 990 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1887 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
October 29, 1887 to November 6, 1887
Peak strength
Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)
Lowest pressure
990 mb (29.23 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
2.2
Fastest the center moved
45 kt (52 mph)
Identifier
AL161887

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
Oct 30, 01:00Palm Harbor, FL, 4 km away28.1N 82.8W40 kt (46 mph)

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
Oct 29, 12:0026.5N 86.0W35 ktTropical storm
Oct 29, 18:0027.2N 84.5W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 30, 00:0028.0N 83.0W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 30, 01:00 landfall28.1N 82.8W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 30, 06:0028.9N 81.5W35 ktTropical storm
Oct 30, 12:0030.0N 80.0W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 30, 18:0031.3N 78.7W45 ktTropical storm
Oct 31, 00:0032.7N 77.4W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 31, 06:0033.9N 76.1W55 ktTropical storm
Oct 31, 12:0034.8N 74.8W60 ktTropical storm
Oct 31, 18:0035.4N 73.4W60 kt993 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 00:0036.0N 72.0W65 ktExtratropical
Nov 1, 06:0036.5N 70.3W70 ktExtratropical
Nov 1, 12:0037.0N 69.0W70 ktExtratropical
Nov 1, 18:0037.8N 67.8W70 ktExtratropical
Nov 2, 00:0038.5N 66.6W65 ktExtratropical
Nov 2, 06:0039.2N 65.4W60 ktExtratropical
Nov 2, 12:0040.0N 64.0W60 ktExtratropical
Nov 2, 18:0040.6N 61.7W60 ktExtratropical
Nov 3, 00:0041.1N 58.0W60 ktExtratropical
Nov 3, 06:0041.5N 54.8W60 ktExtratropical
Nov 3, 12:0042.0N 52.0W60 ktExtratropical
Nov 3, 18:0044.0N 47.8W60 ktExtratropical
Nov 4, 00:0047.4N 44.2W60 ktExtratropical
Nov 4, 06:0051.1N 40.2W60 ktExtratropical
Nov 4, 12:0053.0N 36.0W60 ktExtratropical
Nov 4, 18:0053.6N 32.0W60 ktExtratropical
Nov 5, 00:0053.6N 27.7W60 ktExtratropical
Nov 5, 06:0053.4N 23.1W60 kt990 mbExtratropical
Nov 5, 12:0053.0N 19.0W60 ktExtratropical
Nov 5, 18:0052.4N 15.4W60 ktExtratropical
Nov 6, 00:0051.8N 11.4W55 ktExtratropical
Nov 6, 06:0050.8N 7.3W50 ktExtratropical
Nov 6, 12:0050.0N 4.0W45 ktExtratropical
Nov 6, 18:0048.3N 0.4W40 ktExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1887

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.