Hurricane Frances (1976)
Hurricane Frances reached Category 3 in the North Atlantic between August 27, 1976 and September 7, 1976, with a lowest pressure of 963 mb.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Frances, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1976 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
- August 27, 1976 to September 7, 1976
- Peak strength
- Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 963 mb (28.44 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 1156 km (718 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 14.7
- Fastest the center moved
- 21 kt (24 mph)
- Identifier
- AL111976
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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 27, 12:00 | 12.5N 37.5W | 25 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 27, 18:00 | 13.0N 39.0W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 28, 00:00 | 13.5N 40.5W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 28, 06:00 | 13.8N 42.1W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 28, 12:00 | 14.3N 43.7W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 28, 18:00 | 14.7N 45.3W | 50 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 29, 00:00 | 15.4N 46.8W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 29, 06:00 | 16.1N 48.4W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 29, 12:00 | 16.6N 49.6W | 50 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 29, 18:00 | 17.5N 50.5W | 60 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 30, 00:00 | 18.3N 51.6W | 65 kt | 991 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 30, 06:00 | 18.9N 52.3W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 30, 12:00 | 19.4N 53.3W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 30, 18:00 | 20.2N 54.2W | 65 kt | 987 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 31, 00:00 | 21.0N 54.9W | 65 kt | 980 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 31, 06:00 | 22.0N 55.1W | 65 kt | 978 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 31, 12:00 | 23.1N 55.2W | 75 kt | 975 mb | Hurricane |
| Aug 31, 18:00 | 24.2N 55.2W | 75 kt | 972 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 1, 00:00 | 25.3N 54.9W | 90 kt | 968 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 1, 06:00 | 26.3N 54.3W | 100 kt | 963 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 1, 12:00 | 27.2N 53.7W | 95 kt | 966 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 1, 18:00 | 27.8N 52.6W | 95 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 2, 00:00 | 28.2N 51.3W | 95 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 2, 06:00 | 28.2N 50.1W | 95 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 2, 12:00 | 28.3N 48.7W | 95 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 2, 18:00 | 28.5N 47.1W | 85 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 3, 00:00 | 28.9N 45.1W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 3, 06:00 | 29.0N 42.9W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 3, 12:00 | 29.7N 40.8W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 3, 18:00 | 30.6N 39.0W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 4, 00:00 | 32.0N 37.2W | 65 kt | 992 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 4, 06:00 | 33.4N 35.6W | 65 kt | 992 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 4, 12:00 | 34.9N 34.1W | 55 kt | 992 mb | Extratropical |
| Sep 4, 18:00 | 36.4N 32.5W | 55 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 5, 00:00 | 37.8N 30.8W | 55 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 5, 06:00 | 39.4N 29.3W | 55 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 5, 12:00 | 41.0N 28.0W | 55 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 5, 18:00 | 42.1N 27.2W | 55 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 6, 00:00 | 43.5N 27.1W | 55 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 6, 06:00 | 42.8N 28.6W | 55 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 6, 12:00 | 42.0N 28.2W | 55 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 6, 18:00 | 41.9N 27.6W | 45 kt | 998 mb | Extratropical |
| Sep 7, 00:00 | 41.8N 27.0W | 45 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 7, 06:00 | 41.7N 26.3W | 45 kt | Extratropical | |
| Sep 7, 12:00 | 41.6N 25.7W | 45 kt | Extratropical |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1976
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Tropical Storm AnnaNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Hurricane BelleNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Tropical Storm DottieNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Hurricane CandiceNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Hurricane EmmyNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Hurricane GloriaNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1976
- Hurricane HollyNorth Atlantic · 1976
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.