The 1996 season

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.

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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

Radar at TJUA as it neared land, Sep 10, 06:00 UTC

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.

Landfalls

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Sep 10, 06:00Coast unnamed here18.0N 66.9W70 kt (81 mph)989 mb
Sep 15, 03:00Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, 86 km away44.8N 62.5W70 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)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 3, 12:0014.9N 41.0W25 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 3, 18:0014.9N 42.7W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 4, 00:0014.8N 44.1W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 4, 06:0014.7N 45.4W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 4, 12:0014.6N 46.6W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 4, 18:0014.7N 47.5W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 5, 00:0014.9N 48.4W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 5, 06:0014.8N 49.5W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 5, 12:0014.5N 51.1W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 5, 18:0014.3N 52.6W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 6, 00:0014.4N 53.6W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 6, 06:0014.6N 54.3W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 6, 12:0014.7N 55.1W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 6, 18:0014.9N 55.7W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 7, 00:0015.2N 57.0W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 7, 06:0015.4N 58.3W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 12:0015.6N 59.6W40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 18:0015.8N 60.4W40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 00:0016.1N 61.2W50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 06:0016.1N 62.0W55 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 12:0016.1N 62.8W60 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 18:0016.1N 63.6W60 kt991 mbTropical storm
Sep 9, 00:0016.1N 64.1W60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 9, 06:0016.1N 64.5W70 kt987 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 12:0016.3N 65.0W70 kt985 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 18:0016.6N 65.6W70 kt990 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 00:0017.1N 66.1W70 kt989 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 06:00 landfall18.0N 66.9W70 kt989 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 12:0018.3N 67.8W65 kt989 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 18:0018.9N 68.4W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 00:0019.5N 68.9W70 kt982 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 06:0020.1N 69.5W75 kt975 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 12:0020.9N 70.1W90 kt971 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 18:0021.6N 70.6W95 kt970 mbHurricane
Sep 12, 00:0022.3N 71.1W100 kt967 mbHurricane
Sep 12, 06:0023.0N 71.4W105 kt962 mbHurricane
Sep 12, 12:0023.9N 71.8W115 kt959 mbHurricane
Sep 12, 18:0024.7N 71.8W115 kt946 mbHurricane
Sep 13, 00:0025.9N 71.5W120 kt935 mbHurricane
Sep 13, 06:0027.2N 71.4W115 kt942 mbHurricane
Sep 13, 12:0029.0N 70.9W100 kt948 mbHurricane
Sep 13, 18:0031.0N 70.3W100 kt948 mbHurricane
Sep 14, 00:0033.3N 69.5W90 kt948 mbHurricane
Sep 14, 06:0035.9N 68.4W90 kt955 mbHurricane
Sep 14, 12:0038.5N 67.1W85 kt960 mbHurricane
Sep 14, 18:0042.0N 65.2W75 kt960 mbHurricane
Sep 15, 00:0044.3N 63.3W70 kt970 mbHurricane
Sep 15, 03:00 landfall44.8N 62.5W70 kt978 mbHurricane
Sep 15, 06:0045.5N 61.5W65 kt980 mbHurricane
Sep 15, 12:0046.3N 59.1W60 kt982 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 18:0046.0N 55.0W40 kt996 mbExtratropical
Sep 16, 00:0046.0N 54.0W40 kt998 mbExtratropical
Sep 16, 06:0045.0N 50.0W35 kt999 mbExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 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.