Tropical Storm Frances (1998)

Basin

North Atlantic

Dates

September 8, 1998 to September 13, 1998

Peak strength

Tropical Storm, 55 kt (63 mph)

Lowest pressure

990 mb (29.23 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

1.6

Fastest the center moved

13 kt (15 mph)

Identifier

AL061998

Radar at KCRP as it neared land, Sep 11, 06:00 UTC

The sources count different things and are not added together.

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.

Deaths

4 (4 direct, 0 indirect)

Injuries

11

Property damage

$352 million

Crop damage

$80,000

Events recorded

77 in 14 reports from 3 states and marine areas

State by state

What was recorded

49 tropical storm, 13 flash flood, 9 flood, 6 tornado.

6 tornadoes recorded in the United States, strongest first.

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 2,415 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 22.39 inches (569 mm).

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

• Tropical Storm AlexNorth Atlantic · 1998Tropical Storm45 kt · 1002 mb
• Hurricane BonnieNorth Atlantic · 1998Cat 3100 kt · 954 mb
• Tropical Storm CharleyNorth Atlantic · 1998Tropical Storm60 kt · 1000 mb
• Hurricane DanielleNorth Atlantic · 1998Cat 290 kt · 960 mb
• Hurricane EarlNorth Atlantic · 1998Cat 285 kt · 964 mb
• Hurricane GeorgesNorth Atlantic · 1998 · 827 deathsCat 4135 kt · 937 mb
• Tropical Storm HermineNorth Atlantic · 1998Tropical Storm40 kt · 999 mb
• Hurricane IvanNorth Atlantic · 1998Cat 180 kt · 975 mb
• Hurricane JeanneNorth Atlantic · 1998Cat 290 kt · 969 mb
• Hurricane KarlNorth Atlantic · 1998Cat 290 kt · 970 mb
• Hurricane LisaNorth Atlantic · 1998Cat 165 kt · 995 mb
• Hurricane MitchNorth Atlantic · 1998 · 19,325 deathsCat 5155 kt · 905 mb
• Hurricane NicoleNorth Atlantic · 1998Cat 175 kt · 979 mb

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.

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.

• Tropical cyclone report, National Hurricane Center
• Wikipedia article: Tropical Storm Frances