The 1998 season

Hurricane Karl (1998)

Hurricane Karl reached Category 2 in the North Atlantic between September 23, 1998 and September 29, 1998, with a lowest pressure of 970 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Karl, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1998 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 23, 1998 to September 29, 1998
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
970 mb (28.64 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 205 km (127 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.5
Fastest the center moved
41 kt (47 mph)
Identifier
AL111998

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 23, 12:0033.3N 65.4W25 kt1003 mbTropical depression
Sep 23, 18:0033.2N 62.8W30 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 24, 00:0033.2N 60.7W35 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 06:0032.9N 59.2W35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 12:0032.5N 58.1W40 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 18:0032.0N 57.2W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 00:0031.4N 56.2W50 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 06:0030.8N 55.1W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 12:0030.4N 54.0W65 kt987 mbHurricane
Sep 25, 18:0030.3N 52.9W70 kt984 mbHurricane
Sep 26, 00:0030.5N 51.8W75 kt981 mbHurricane
Sep 26, 06:0031.1N 51.0W75 kt979 mbHurricane
Sep 26, 12:0031.8N 49.9W75 kt977 mbHurricane
Sep 26, 18:0032.6N 48.8W80 kt973 mbHurricane
Sep 27, 00:0033.9N 47.3W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Sep 27, 06:0035.5N 45.2W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Sep 27, 12:0037.4N 42.5W80 kt973 mbHurricane
Sep 27, 18:0039.1N 39.0W70 kt983 mbHurricane
Sep 28, 00:0040.4N 34.7W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 06:0041.5N 30.0W40 kt1002 mbExtratropical
Sep 28, 12:0042.0N 25.0W35 kt1001 mbExtratropical
Sep 28, 18:0043.0N 20.0W35 kt1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 29, 00:0046.0N 16.0W35 kt996 mbExtratropical
Sep 29, 06:0048.0N 14.0W35 kt994 mbExtratropical
Sep 29, 12:0049.0N 11.0W35 kt994 mbExtratropical
Sep 29, 18:0049.0N 8.0W35 kt991 mbExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1998

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.