The 1988 season

Hurricane Keith (1988)

Hurricane Keith reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between November 17, 1988 and November 26, 1988, with a lowest pressure of 945 mb, and made landfall.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Hurricane Keith. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

Open the live radar with storms, cones and warnings

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
November 17, 1988 to November 26, 1988
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
945 mb (27.91 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
5.0
Fastest the center moved
56 kt (64 mph)
Identifier
AL121988

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)WherePositionWindPressure
Nov 21, 08:00Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 6 km away21.2N 86.8W60 kt (69 mph)993 mb
Nov 23, 07:00Siesta Key, FL, 6 km away27.3N 82.6W55 kt (63 mph)995 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 433 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 10.27 inches (261 mm).

StationTotalPosition
SAINT LEO10.27 in (261 mm)28.33N 82.27W
TARPON SPRINGS SWG PLNT7.60 in (193 mm)28.15N 82.75W
CLERMONT 7 S7.19 in (183 mm)28.45N 81.75W
HILLSBOROUGH RVR ST PK6.34 in (161 mm)28.15N 82.23W
DAYTONA BEACH INTL AP5.88 in (149 mm)29.18N 81.05W
ORLANDO INTL ARPT5.87 in (149 mm)28.43N 81.33W
PLANT CITY5.53 in (140 mm)28.02N 82.15W
LAKELAND5.14 in (131 mm)28.02N 81.92W
KISSIMMEE 24.98 in (126 mm)28.28N 81.42W
WINTER HAVEN4.98 in (126 mm)28.02N 81.73W
LAKE ALFRED EXP STN4.84 in (123 mm)28.10N 81.72W
SANFORD4.51 in (115 mm)28.80N 81.27W

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Nov 17, 18:0014.9N 74.3W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Nov 18, 00:0015.0N 75.5W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Nov 18, 06:0015.0N 76.5W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Nov 18, 12:0015.0N 77.7W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Nov 18, 18:0015.0N 79.0W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Nov 19, 00:0015.0N 79.9W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Nov 19, 06:0015.1N 80.4W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Nov 19, 12:0015.2N 81.2W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Nov 19, 18:0015.5N 81.8W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Nov 20, 00:0015.8N 82.6W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Nov 20, 06:0016.3N 83.4W35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 20, 12:0017.8N 84.5W40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Nov 20, 18:0019.1N 85.4W45 kt997 mbTropical storm
Nov 21, 00:0019.8N 86.1W60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 21, 06:0020.7N 86.6W60 kt993 mbTropical storm
Nov 21, 08:00 landfall21.2N 86.8W60 kt993 mbTropical storm
Nov 21, 12:0021.8N 87.0W60 kt993 mbTropical storm
Nov 21, 18:0022.4N 87.2W60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 00:0023.1N 87.0W60 kt993 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 06:0023.8N 86.8W55 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 12:0024.4N 86.2W55 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 18:0025.5N 85.1W55 kt993 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 00:0026.5N 84.2W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 06:0027.3N 82.8W55 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 07:00 landfall27.3N 82.6W55 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 12:0027.9N 81.3W35 kt999 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 18:0028.9N 79.8W40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 00:0029.7N 77.7W50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 06:0031.0N 75.2W55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 12:0032.5N 70.5W60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 18:0034.0N 66.0W55 kt985 mbExtratropical
Nov 25, 00:0036.0N 60.0W50 kt982 mbExtratropical
Nov 25, 06:0039.0N 54.0W50 kt976 mbExtratropical
Nov 25, 12:0040.0N 49.0W50 kt964 mbExtratropical
Nov 25, 18:0044.0N 45.0W55 kt960 mbExtratropical
Nov 26, 00:0048.0N 43.0W65 kt950 mbExtratropical
Nov 26, 06:0052.0N 42.0W65 kt945 mbExtratropical
Nov 26, 12:0052.5N 44.0W65 kt945 mbExtratropical
Nov 26, 18:0052.0N 46.0W65 kt950 mbExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 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.