The 1891 season

Unnamed hurricane (1891)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 3 in the North Atlantic between August 16, 1891 and August 25, 1891, with a lowest pressure of 961 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1891 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 16, 1891 to August 25, 1891
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
961 mb (28.38 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
20.9
Fastest the center moved
17 kt (20 mph)
Identifier
AL031891

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 24, 15:00North Key Largo, FL, 19 km away25.4N 80.2W70 kt (81 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
Aug 16, 12:0010.5N 46.7WTropical storm
Aug 16, 18:0010.7N 48.1WTropical storm
Aug 17, 00:0010.9N 49.6WTropical storm
Aug 17, 06:0011.2N 51.0WTropical storm
Aug 17, 12:0011.6N 52.5WTropical storm
Aug 17, 18:0012.0N 53.9WTropical storm
Aug 18, 00:0012.3N 55.3WTropical storm
Aug 18, 06:0012.8N 56.7WNot reported
Aug 18, 12:0013.3N 58.0W90 ktHurricane
Aug 18, 18:0013.9N 59.4W100 ktHurricane
Aug 19, 00:0014.7N 61.1W110 kt961 mbHurricane
Aug 19, 06:0015.3N 62.5W110 ktHurricane
Aug 19, 12:0016.0N 64.0W105 ktHurricane
Aug 19, 18:0016.5N 65.0W100 ktHurricane
Aug 20, 00:0017.0N 66.1W95 ktHurricane
Aug 20, 06:0017.5N 67.1W90 ktHurricane
Aug 20, 12:0018.0N 68.0W85 ktHurricane
Aug 20, 18:0018.7N 68.4W85 ktHurricane
Aug 21, 00:0019.6N 68.6W85 ktHurricane
Aug 21, 06:0020.3N 68.9W85 ktHurricane
Aug 21, 12:0021.0N 69.5W85 ktHurricane
Aug 21, 18:0021.5N 70.2W85 ktHurricane
Aug 22, 00:0021.8N 71.0W85 ktHurricane
Aug 22, 06:0022.1N 71.7W85 ktHurricane
Aug 22, 12:0022.5N 72.6W85 ktHurricane
Aug 22, 18:0022.9N 73.5W85 ktHurricane
Aug 23, 00:0023.3N 74.5W85 ktHurricane
Aug 23, 06:0023.8N 75.5W85 ktHurricane
Aug 23, 12:0024.3N 76.7W85 ktHurricane
Aug 23, 18:0024.6N 77.5W85 ktHurricane
Aug 24, 00:0024.8N 78.2W80 ktHurricane
Aug 24, 06:0025.1N 78.9W75 ktHurricane
Aug 24, 12:0025.3N 79.7W70 ktHurricane
Aug 24, 15:00 landfall25.4N 80.2W70 ktHurricane
Aug 24, 18:0025.5N 80.6W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 00:0025.8N 81.5W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 06:0026.0N 82.6W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 12:0026.2N 83.7W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 18:0026.2N 84.8W35 ktTropical storm

Other North Atlantic storms of 1891

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.