The 1994 season

Hurricane Gordon (1994)

Hurricane Gordon reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between November 8, 1994 and November 21, 1994, with a lowest pressure of 980 mb, and made landfall. It killed 1,152 people and did $594 million of damage, as Wikidata records it.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Gordon, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1994 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
November 8, 1994 to November 21, 1994
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
980 mb (28.94 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
8.4
Fastest the center moved
35 kt (40 mph)
Identifier
AL121994

Radar at KBYX as it neared land, Nov 15, 13:00 UTC

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

Wikidata

1,152 deaths$594 million

A community-maintained total, usually direct and indirect deaths together and damage worldwide. Joined to this storm by its IBTrACS serial, not by name.

Landfalls

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Nov 10, 06:00Puerto Cabezas, North Caribbean Coast, Nicaragua, 4 km away14.0N 83.4W30 kt (35 mph)1008 mb
Nov 13, 03:00Kingston, Kingston, Jamaica, 11 km away17.9N 76.8W35 kt (40 mph)1000 mb
Nov 13, 13:00Guantánamo, Guantanamo Province, Cuba, 36 km away20.0N 74.9W40 kt (46 mph)1000 mb
Nov 15, 13:00Big Coppitt Key, FL, 4 km away24.6N 81.7W45 kt (52 mph)999 mb
Nov 16, 13:00Harlem Heights, FL, 3 km away26.5N 81.9W45 kt (52 mph)996 mb
Nov 21, 03:00Cape Canaveral, FL, 10 km away28.5N 80.6W25 kt (29 mph)1011 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 1,096 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 16.10 inches (409 mm).

StationTotalPosition
Cooperstown16.10 in (409 mm)0.00N 0.00E
Andytown W16.02 in (407 mm)26.18N 80.53W
SBDD15.31 in (389 mm)26.04N 80.36W
Lwd.HQ15.14 in (385 mm)26.48N 80.12W
Fort Lauderdale14.77 in (375 mm)26.09N 80.21W
Jupiter14.11 in (358 mm)26.94N 80.10W
Lwd.L38m14.00 in (356 mm)26.42N 80.12W
Davie 213.39 in (340 mm)27.27N 80.71W
FORT LAUDERDALE13.39 in (340 mm)26.10N 80.20W
Hialeah W13.33 in (339 mm)25.87N 80.48W
Homestead AFB13.15 in (334 mm)25.48N 80.38W
Lwd.Mil13.08 in (332 mm)26.52N 80.12W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Nov 8, 12:0011.9N 82.3W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Nov 8, 18:0012.0N 82.5W25 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Nov 9, 00:0012.3N 82.8W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Nov 9, 06:0012.5N 83.0W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Nov 9, 12:0012.8N 83.2W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Nov 9, 18:0013.2N 83.4W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Nov 10, 00:0013.6N 83.4W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Nov 10, 06:00 landfall14.0N 83.4W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Nov 10, 12:0014.3N 83.2W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Nov 10, 18:0014.6N 82.7W35 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 00:0015.1N 82.4W35 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 06:0015.7N 82.3W35 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 12:0016.3N 82.2W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 18:0016.9N 81.5W35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 00:0017.2N 80.8W40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 06:0017.4N 80.2W40 kt999 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 12:0017.5N 79.8W40 kt999 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 18:0017.4N 79.2W35 kt999 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 00:0017.6N 77.9W35 kt999 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 03:00 landfall17.9N 76.8W35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 06:0018.3N 76.0W40 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 12:0019.9N 75.0W40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 13:00 landfall20.0N 74.9W40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 18:0021.5N 75.4W40 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 00:0022.1N 76.3W40 kt999 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 06:0022.7N 77.5W45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 12:0023.2N 78.3W45 kt997 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 18:0023.4N 79.1W45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 00:0023.6N 79.9W45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 06:0023.9N 80.8W45 kt999 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 12:0024.5N 81.6W45 kt999 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 13:00 landfall24.6N 81.7W45 kt999 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 18:0024.9N 82.1W45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Nov 16, 00:0025.4N 82.5W45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Nov 16, 06:0025.7N 82.4W45 kt997 mbTropical storm
Nov 16, 12:0026.4N 82.0W45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 16, 13:00 landfall26.5N 81.9W45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Nov 16, 18:0027.1N 81.4W45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 17, 00:0028.0N 80.0W55 kt993 mbTropical storm
Nov 17, 06:0029.0N 78.5W55 kt989 mbTropical storm
Nov 17, 12:0030.0N 76.7W60 kt987 mbTropical storm
Nov 17, 18:0031.5N 74.8W65 kt981 mbHurricane
Nov 18, 00:0033.1N 74.2W75 kt980 mbHurricane
Nov 18, 06:0033.5N 74.7W70 kt981 mbHurricane
Nov 18, 12:0033.7N 75.7W70 kt984 mbHurricane
Nov 18, 18:0033.2N 75.9W60 kt986 mbTropical storm
Nov 19, 00:0032.5N 75.5W50 kt992 mbTropical storm
Nov 19, 06:0031.6N 75.0W45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Nov 19, 12:0031.1N 74.8W40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 19, 18:0030.4N 75.0W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Nov 20, 00:0029.8N 75.3W35 kt1007 mbTropical storm
Nov 20, 06:0028.9N 76.2W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Nov 20, 12:0028.4N 77.2W30 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Nov 20, 18:0028.2N 78.6W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Nov 21, 00:0028.2N 79.8W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Nov 21, 03:00 landfall28.5N 80.6W25 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Nov 21, 06:0029.2N 81.5W20 kt1012 mbTropical depression
Nov 21, 12:0031.3N 81.8W20 kt1013 mbTropical depression
Nov 21, 18:0034.1N 79.8W20 kt1013 mbTropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 1994

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.