The 1888 season

Unnamed hurricane (1888)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 3 in the North Atlantic between August 25, 1888 and September 9, 1888, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1888 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 25, 1888 to September 9, 1888
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
22.2
Identifier
AL041888

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
Aug 25, 12:0012.9N 31.6WTropical storm
Aug 25, 18:0013.2N 32.8WTropical storm
Aug 26, 00:0013.4N 34.0WTropical storm
Aug 26, 06:0013.7N 35.2WTropical storm
Aug 26, 12:0013.9N 36.4WTropical storm
Aug 26, 18:0014.2N 37.6WTropical storm
Aug 27, 00:0014.4N 38.8WTropical storm
Aug 27, 06:0014.7N 40.0WTropical storm
Aug 27, 12:0014.9N 41.2WTropical storm
Aug 27, 18:0015.2N 42.4WTropical storm
Aug 28, 00:0015.4N 43.6WTropical storm
Aug 28, 06:0015.7N 44.8WTropical storm
Aug 28, 12:0015.9N 46.0WTropical storm
Aug 28, 18:0016.2N 47.2WTropical storm
Aug 29, 00:0016.4N 48.4WTropical storm
Aug 29, 06:0016.7N 49.6WTropical storm
Aug 29, 12:0016.9N 50.8WTropical storm
Aug 29, 18:0017.2N 52.0WTropical storm
Aug 30, 00:0017.4N 53.2WTropical storm
Aug 30, 06:0017.7N 54.5WTropical storm
Aug 30, 12:0017.9N 55.7WTropical storm
Aug 30, 18:0018.2N 56.9WTropical storm
Aug 31, 00:0019.3N 60.3W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 31, 06:0019.5N 61.3W65 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 12:0019.7N 62.3W70 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 18:0020.1N 63.7W70 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 00:0020.5N 64.9W75 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 06:0020.8N 66.1W75 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 12:0021.0N 67.1W80 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 18:0021.1N 67.9W80 ktHurricane
Sep 2, 00:0021.2N 68.5W85 ktHurricane
Sep 2, 06:0021.3N 69.2W85 ktHurricane
Sep 2, 12:0021.4N 70.1W90 ktHurricane
Sep 2, 18:0021.6N 71.3W90 ktHurricane
Sep 3, 00:0021.8N 72.4W95 ktHurricane
Sep 3, 06:0021.9N 73.6W100 ktHurricane
Sep 3, 12:0022.1N 74.8W105 ktHurricane
Sep 3, 18:0022.3N 75.9W110 ktHurricane
Sep 4, 00:0022.5N 77.0W110 ktHurricane
Sep 4, 06:0022.7N 78.2W110 ktHurricane
Sep 4, 12:0022.9N 79.7W110 ktHurricane
Sep 4, 18:0023.0N 80.8W90 ktHurricane
Sep 5, 00:0023.0N 81.9W80 ktHurricane
Sep 5, 06:0022.8N 82.8W75 ktHurricane
Sep 5, 12:0022.5N 83.7W70 ktHurricane
Sep 5, 18:0022.2N 84.9W70 ktHurricane
Sep 6, 00:0021.8N 86.1W70 ktHurricane
Sep 6, 06:0021.4N 87.1W70 ktHurricane
Sep 6, 12:0021.1N 88.0W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 18:0020.8N 89.0W55 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 00:0020.5N 90.0W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 06:0020.2N 91.1W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 12:0019.9N 92.3W70 ktHurricane
Sep 7, 18:0019.5N 93.3W85 ktHurricane
Sep 8, 00:0019.0N 94.3W75 ktHurricane
Sep 8, 06:0018.0N 95.2W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 8, 12:0019.3N 95.9WNot reported
Sep 8, 18:0019.1N 96.8WTropical storm
Sep 9, 00:0018.9N 97.7WTropical storm
Sep 9, 06:0018.7N 96.8WTropical storm
Sep 9, 12:0018.5N 95.9WTropical storm

Other North Atlantic storms of 1888

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.