Hurricane Karl (2010)

Hurricane Karl reached Category 3 in the North Atlantic between September 13, 2010 and September 18, 2010, with a lowest pressure of 956 mb, and made landfall. It killed 1 people in the United States, by the National Weather Service’s record.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Karl, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2010 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 13, 2010 to September 18, 2010
Peak strength: Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure: 956 mb (28.23 inHg)
Landfall: Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy: 6.3
Tropical-storm-force wind reached: 90 nmi (167 km, 104 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached: 20 nmi (37 km, 23 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak: 5 nmi (9 km, 6 mi)
Overall size: 180 nmi (333 km, 207 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Peak gust in the best track: 130 kt (150 mph)
Fastest the center moved: 14 kt (16 mph)
Identifier: AL132010

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

NOAA Storm Events

1 deaths (1 direct, 0 indirect)$6.6 million

What National Weather Service offices recorded county by county in 2 states and marine areas, in the United States only. Property and crop damage as each office estimated it, which is not a national loss total.

Landfalls

Time (UTC)	Where	Position	Wind	Pressure
Sep 15, 12:45	Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 53 km away	18.5N 87.8W	55 kt (63 mph)	991 mb
Sep 17, 16:45	Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico, 15 km away	19.3N 96.2W	100 kt (115 mph)	976 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.

In the United States

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

Deaths: 1 (1 direct, 0 indirect)
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $6.6 million
Crop damage: none recorded
Events recorded: 50 in 4 reports from 2 states and marine areas

State by state

State or marine area	Deaths	Injuries	Damage	Events
Texas	1	0	$6.6 million	35
Gulf of Mexico	0	0		15

What was recorded

23 flash flood, 15 marine thunderstorm wind, 6 flood, 3 heavy rain, 2 funnel cloud, 1 thunderstorm wind.

Wind reports

The strongest winds National Weather Service offices recorded with this storm. An estimated figure is a forecaster’s judgment from the damage, not an instrument reading.

Wind	How	Where	State	Time (UTC)
52 kt (60 mph)	Estimated	1.59 ENE of LAGARTEO	Texas	Sep 17, 19:33
49 kt (56 mph)	Measured	5.36 WSW of BAFFIN BAY	Gulf of Mexico	Sep 17, 19:00
41 kt (47 mph)	Measured	SOUTH BIRD ISLAND	Gulf of Mexico	Sep 17, 19:54

What forecast offices wrote

From the Storm Events narratives, unedited.

Flooding across the entire county caused damage to roads and infrastructure. Flooding also damaged a hotel in Aransas Pass with 23 rooms receiving damage. A total of 78 homes were flooded in the cities of Sinton, Ingleside, and Aransas Pass. Sixteen residents in Sinton were evacuated from their homes during the flooding. 17 homes and 3 business were affected by flooding in Ingleside.
San Patricio, Texas · Flash Flood · Sep 19, 16:00 UTC

Several roads closed due to flood along Oso Creek. FM 43, FM 763, and FM 2444 closed at Oso Creek. Runoff from heavy rains flowed into Oso Creek which runs along the southwest edge of Corpus Christi. The gaging site on Oso Creek, located on FM 763 about 2 miles west of town, recorded a rapid rise up to 28 feet on Sunday before it stopped working. A post storm survey conducted by the National Weather Service and United States Geological Survey confirmed the creek crested at 30.62 feet around 805 AM Monday morning which beat the previous record of 29.37 feet set in August 1980 during Hurricane Allen.
Nueces, Texas · Flood · Sep 20, 13:30 UTC

Track

Time (UTC)	Position	Wind	Pressure	Status
Sep 13, 18:00	16.3N 78.5W	25 kt	1005 mb	Low
Sep 14, 00:00	16.6N 79.8W	25 kt	1004 mb	Low
Sep 14, 06:00	17.0N 81.1W	25 kt	1003 mb	Low
Sep 14, 12:00	17.6N 82.3W	30 kt	1003 mb	Tropical depression
Sep 14, 18:00	18.1N 83.6W	35 kt	1001 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 15, 00:00	18.3N 85.0W	40 kt	999 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 15, 06:00	18.3N 86.2W	55 kt	997 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 15, 12:00	18.5N 87.6W	55 kt	991 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 15, 12:45 landfall	18.5N 87.8W	55 kt	991 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 15, 18:00	18.8N 88.8W	45 kt	994 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 16, 00:00	19.2N 90.1W	40 kt	997 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 16, 06:00	19.4N 91.1W	45 kt	994 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 16, 12:00	19.6N 92.2W	55 kt	986 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 16, 18:00	19.6N 93.3W	70 kt	982 mb	Hurricane
Sep 17, 00:00	19.7N 94.1W	85 kt	971 mb	Hurricane
Sep 17, 06:00	19.7N 94.9W	95 kt	966 mb	Hurricane
Sep 17, 12:00	19.6N 95.6W	110 kt	956 mb	Hurricane
Sep 17, 16:45 landfall	19.3N 96.2W	100 kt	976 mb	Hurricane
Sep 17, 18:00	19.2N 96.4W	90 kt	979 mb	Hurricane
Sep 18, 00:00	18.7N 97.1W	60 kt	995 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 18, 06:00	18.6N 97.4W	25 kt	1005 mb	Tropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 2010

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.