Hurricane Hortense (1996)
Hurricane Hortense reached Category 4 in the North Atlantic between September 3, 1996 and September 16, 1996, with a lowest pressure of 935 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Hortense, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1996 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 3, 1996 to September 16, 1996
- Peak strength
- Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 935 mb (27.61 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 21.8
- Fastest the center moved
- 38 kt (44 mph)
- Identifier
- AL081996
Deaths and damage
No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.
Landfalls
| Time (UTC) | Where | Position | Wind | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 10, 06:00 | Coast unnamed here | 18.0N 66.9W | 70 kt (81 mph) | 989 mb |
| Sep 15, 03:00 | Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, 86 km away | 44.8N 62.5W | 70 kt (81 mph) | 978 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 3, 12:00 | 14.9N 41.0W | 25 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 3, 18:00 | 14.9N 42.7W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 4, 00:00 | 14.8N 44.1W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 4, 06:00 | 14.7N 45.4W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 4, 12:00 | 14.6N 46.6W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 4, 18:00 | 14.7N 47.5W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 5, 00:00 | 14.9N 48.4W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 5, 06:00 | 14.8N 49.5W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 5, 12:00 | 14.5N 51.1W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 5, 18:00 | 14.3N 52.6W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 6, 00:00 | 14.4N 53.6W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 6, 06:00 | 14.6N 54.3W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 6, 12:00 | 14.7N 55.1W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 6, 18:00 | 14.9N 55.7W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 7, 00:00 | 15.2N 57.0W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 7, 06:00 | 15.4N 58.3W | 35 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 7, 12:00 | 15.6N 59.6W | 40 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 7, 18:00 | 15.8N 60.4W | 40 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 8, 00:00 | 16.1N 61.2W | 50 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 8, 06:00 | 16.1N 62.0W | 55 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 8, 12:00 | 16.1N 62.8W | 60 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 8, 18:00 | 16.1N 63.6W | 60 kt | 991 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 9, 00:00 | 16.1N 64.1W | 60 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 9, 06:00 | 16.1N 64.5W | 70 kt | 987 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 9, 12:00 | 16.3N 65.0W | 70 kt | 985 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 9, 18:00 | 16.6N 65.6W | 70 kt | 990 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 10, 00:00 | 17.1N 66.1W | 70 kt | 989 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 10, 06:00 landfall | 18.0N 66.9W | 70 kt | 989 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 10, 12:00 | 18.3N 67.8W | 65 kt | 989 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 10, 18:00 | 18.9N 68.4W | 65 kt | 990 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 11, 00:00 | 19.5N 68.9W | 70 kt | 982 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 11, 06:00 | 20.1N 69.5W | 75 kt | 975 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 11, 12:00 | 20.9N 70.1W | 90 kt | 971 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 11, 18:00 | 21.6N 70.6W | 95 kt | 970 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 12, 00:00 | 22.3N 71.1W | 100 kt | 967 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 12, 06:00 | 23.0N 71.4W | 105 kt | 962 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 12, 12:00 | 23.9N 71.8W | 115 kt | 959 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 12, 18:00 | 24.7N 71.8W | 115 kt | 946 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 13, 00:00 | 25.9N 71.5W | 120 kt | 935 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 13, 06:00 | 27.2N 71.4W | 115 kt | 942 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 13, 12:00 | 29.0N 70.9W | 100 kt | 948 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 13, 18:00 | 31.0N 70.3W | 100 kt | 948 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 14, 00:00 | 33.3N 69.5W | 90 kt | 948 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 14, 06:00 | 35.9N 68.4W | 90 kt | 955 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 14, 12:00 | 38.5N 67.1W | 85 kt | 960 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 14, 18:00 | 42.0N 65.2W | 75 kt | 960 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 15, 00:00 | 44.3N 63.3W | 70 kt | 970 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 15, 03:00 landfall | 44.8N 62.5W | 70 kt | 978 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 15, 06:00 | 45.5N 61.5W | 65 kt | 980 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 15, 12:00 | 46.3N 59.1W | 60 kt | 982 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 15, 18:00 | 46.0N 55.0W | 40 kt | 996 mb | Extratropical |
| Sep 16, 00:00 | 46.0N 54.0W | 40 kt | 998 mb | Extratropical |
| Sep 16, 06:00 | 45.0N 50.0W | 35 kt | 999 mb | Extratropical |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1996
- Tropical Storm ArthurNorth Atlantic · 1996
- Hurricane BerthaNorth Atlantic · 1996
- Hurricane CesarNorth Atlantic · 1996
- Hurricane DollyNorth Atlantic · 1996
- Hurricane EdouardNorth Atlantic · 1996
- Hurricane FranNorth Atlantic · 1996
- Tropical Storm GustavNorth Atlantic · 1996
- Hurricane IsidoreNorth Atlantic · 1996
- Tropical Storm JosephineNorth Atlantic · 1996
- Tropical Storm KyleNorth Atlantic · 1996
- Hurricane LiliNorth Atlantic · 1996 · 22 deaths · $662 million
- Hurricane MarcoNorth Atlantic · 1996
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.