Hurricane Florence (1988)
Hurricane Florence reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between September 7, 1988 and September 11, 1988, with a lowest pressure of 982 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Florence, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1988 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 7, 1988 to September 11, 1988
- Peak strength
- Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 982 mb (29.00 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 3.0
- Eyewall radius at its peak
- 15 nmi (28 km, 17 mi)
- Fastest the center moved
- 14 kt (16 mph)
- Identifier
- AL071988
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) | Where | Position | Wind | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 10, 02:00 | Boothville, LA, 30 km away | 29.1N 89.3W | 70 kt (81 mph) | 984 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.
Rainfall
The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,948 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 11.02 inches (280 mm).
| Station | Total | Position |
|---|---|---|
| BREWTON 3 SSE | 11.02 in (280 mm) | 31.05N 87.05W |
| BREWTON 3 ENE | 10.20 in (259 mm) | 31.13N 87.05W |
| MILTON EXPERIMENT STN | 9.51 in (242 mm) | 30.78N 87.13W |
| WHITING FIELD NAS | 9.31 in (236 mm) | 30.72N 87.02W |
| LIBERTY | 8.35 in (212 mm) | 31.17N 90.90W |
| TARPON SPRINGS | 7.87 in (200 mm) | 28.15N 82.75W |
| WALLACE | 7.63 in (194 mm) | 31.22N 87.18W |
| LEAKESVILLE | 7.54 in (192 mm) | 31.15N 88.55W |
| WEWAHITCHKA | 7.17 in (182 mm) | 30.12N 85.20W |
| WEEKI WACHEE | 6.89 in (175 mm) | 28.52N 82.58W |
| CHARLESTON CITY | 6.63 in (168 mm) | 32.78N 79.93W |
| JONES BLUFF LOCK & DAM | 6.48 in (165 mm) | 32.32N 86.78W |
WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 7, 06:00 | 22.8N 92.0W | 25 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 7, 12:00 | 22.8N 91.2W | 30 kt | 998 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 7, 18:00 | 22.7N 90.2W | 40 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 8, 00:00 | 22.6N 89.6W | 45 kt | 993 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 8, 06:00 | 22.7N 89.8W | 45 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 8, 12:00 | 23.1N 89.7W | 45 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 8, 18:00 | 23.4N 89.5W | 45 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 9, 00:00 | 24.2N 89.2W | 50 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 9, 06:00 | 25.0N 89.2W | 50 kt | 991 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 9, 12:00 | 26.1N 89.2W | 55 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 9, 18:00 | 27.4N 89.2W | 65 kt | 985 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 10, 00:00 | 28.7N 89.3W | 70 kt | 983 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 10, 02:00 landfall | 29.1N 89.3W | 70 kt | 984 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 10, 06:00 | 29.7N 89.7W | 60 kt | 988 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 10, 12:00 | 30.7N 90.7W | 30 kt | 998 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 10, 18:00 | 31.8N 91.5W | 20 kt | 1003 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 11, 00:00 | 32.4N 92.3W | 15 kt | 1007 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 11, 06:00 | 32.7N 93.3W | 15 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 11, 12:00 | 33.0N 94.5W | 15 kt | 1010 mb | Tropical depression |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1988
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Tropical Storm AlbertoNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Tropical Storm BerylNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Tropical Storm ChrisNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Hurricane DebbyNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Tropical Storm ErnestoNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Hurricane GilbertNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Hurricane HeleneNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Tropical Storm IsaacNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Hurricane Joan:MiriamNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1988
- Hurricane KeithNorth Atlantic · 1988
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.