Unnamed hurricane (1948)
Unnamed hurricane reached Category 4 in the North Atlantic between September 18, 1948 and September 26, 1948, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1948 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- September 18, 1948 to September 26, 1948
- Peak strength
- Category 4, 115 kt (132 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 940 mb (27.76 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 20.8
- Fastest the center moved
- 44 kt (51 mph)
- Identifier
- AL081948
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.
Landfalls
| Time (UTC) | Where | Position | Wind | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 20, 22:00 | Güines, Mayabeque, Cuba, 60 km away | 22.3N 82.1W | 110 kt (127 mph) | |
| Sep 21, 01:00 | Güines, Mayabeque, Cuba, 16 km away | 22.7N 82.0W | 110 kt (127 mph) | |
| Sep 21, 17:00 | Big Coppitt Key, FL, 6 km away | 24.6N 81.6W | 105 kt (121 mph) | 955 mb |
| Sep 22, 05:00 | Marco Island, FL, 45 km away | 25.8N 81.3W | 115 kt (132 mph) | 940 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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 18, 06:00 | 18.2N 79.2W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 18, 12:00 | 18.2N 79.8W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 18, 18:00 | 18.3N 80.4W | 60 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 19, 00:00 | 18.5N 80.8W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 19, 06:00 | 18.8N 81.1W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 19, 12:00 | 19.2N 81.5W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 19, 18:00 | 19.6N 81.9W | 105 kt | 951 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 20, 00:00 | 20.0N 82.2W | 110 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 20, 06:00 | 20.5N 82.3W | 110 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 20, 12:00 | 21.2N 82.3W | 110 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 20, 18:00 | 21.9N 82.3W | 110 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 20, 22:00 landfall | 22.3N 82.1W | 110 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 21, 00:00 | 22.6N 82.1W | 110 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 21, 01:00 landfall | 22.7N 82.0W | 110 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 21, 06:00 | 23.3N 81.9W | 100 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 21, 12:00 | 24.0N 81.7W | 105 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 21, 17:00 landfall | 24.6N 81.6W | 105 kt | 955 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 21, 18:00 | 24.7N 81.5W | 105 kt | 955 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 22, 00:00 | 25.4N 81.4W | 115 kt | 947 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 22, 05:00 landfall | 25.8N 81.3W | 115 kt | 940 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 22, 06:00 | 26.0N 81.2W | 115 kt | 940 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 22, 12:00 | 26.5N 80.8W | 85 kt | 953 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 22, 18:00 | 27.3N 80.1W | 80 kt | 965 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 23, 00:00 | 27.9N 78.9W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 23, 06:00 | 28.5N 77.6W | 85 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 23, 12:00 | 29.6N 75.7W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 23, 18:00 | 31.0N 73.6W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 24, 00:00 | 33.0N 71.6W | 85 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 24, 06:00 | 35.1N 69.5W | 75 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 24, 12:00 | 37.1N 66.9W | 65 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 24, 18:00 | 39.3N 62.0W | 60 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 25, 00:00 | 41.5N 57.5W | 55 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 25, 06:00 | 43.3N 52.8W | 50 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 25, 12:00 | 44.6N 48.6W | 45 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 25, 18:00 | 46.0N 43.7W | 45 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 26, 00:00 | 47.5N 39.0W | 45 kt | Extratropical |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1948
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1948
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1948
- Unnamed hurricaneNorth Atlantic · 1948
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1948
- Unnamed hurricaneNorth Atlantic · 1948
- Unnamed hurricaneNorth Atlantic · 1948
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1948
- Unnamed hurricaneNorth Atlantic · 1948
- Unnamed hurricaneNorth Atlantic · 1948
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.