The 2016 season

Hurricane Alex (2016)

Hurricane Alex reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between January 7, 2016 and January 17, 2016, with a lowest pressure of 978 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Alex, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2016 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
January 7, 2016 to January 17, 2016
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
978 mb (28.88 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
2.8
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
600 nmi (1111 km, 690 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached
300 nmi (556 km, 345 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
15 nmi (28 km, 17 mi)
Overall size
500 nmi (926 km, 575 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Peak gust in the best track
90 kt (104 mph)
Fastest the center moved
42 kt (48 mph)
Identifier
AL012016

Deaths and damage

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

Landfall

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Jan 15, 13:15Coast unnamed here38.7N 27.1W55 kt (63 mph)986 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
Jan 7, 00:0026.6N 75.3W40 kt1010 mbExtratropical
Jan 7, 06:0027.6N 74.7W45 kt1003 mbExtratropical
Jan 7, 12:0028.7N 73.8W50 kt997 mbExtratropical
Jan 7, 18:0030.0N 72.5W55 kt987 mbExtratropical
Jan 8, 00:0031.4N 70.6W55 kt986 mbExtratropical
Jan 8, 06:0032.4N 68.8W55 kt986 mbExtratropical
Jan 8, 12:0033.0N 67.1W45 kt991 mbExtratropical
Jan 8, 18:0033.5N 65.0W45 kt991 mbExtratropical
Jan 9, 00:0034.0N 62.9W45 kt991 mbExtratropical
Jan 9, 06:0034.5N 60.5W50 kt991 mbExtratropical
Jan 9, 12:0035.0N 58.3W55 kt989 mbExtratropical
Jan 9, 18:0035.1N 56.1W60 kt985 mbExtratropical
Jan 10, 00:0034.4N 54.2W65 kt981 mbExtratropical
Jan 10, 06:0033.7N 52.7W65 kt981 mbExtratropical
Jan 10, 12:0032.9N 51.2W65 kt979 mbExtratropical
Jan 10, 18:0032.1N 49.1W60 kt980 mbExtratropical
Jan 11, 00:0031.6N 46.5W55 kt980 mbExtratropical
Jan 11, 06:0031.6N 44.6W55 kt980 mbExtratropical
Jan 11, 12:0031.3N 43.4W55 kt980 mbExtratropical
Jan 11, 18:0030.0N 42.5W50 kt982 mbExtratropical
Jan 12, 00:0028.4N 41.7W50 kt985 mbExtratropical
Jan 12, 06:0026.3N 40.2W50 kt988 mbExtratropical
Jan 12, 12:0025.0N 38.0W50 kt988 mbExtratropical
Jan 12, 18:0025.1N 35.9W50 kt988 mbSubtropical storm
Jan 13, 00:0025.4N 34.7W50 kt988 mbSubtropical storm
Jan 13, 06:0025.6N 33.6W45 kt989 mbSubtropical storm
Jan 13, 12:0026.0N 32.5W45 kt989 mbSubtropical storm
Jan 13, 18:0026.7N 31.4W45 kt990 mbSubtropical storm
Jan 14, 00:0027.9N 30.4W55 kt988 mbSubtropical storm
Jan 14, 06:0029.3N 29.6W65 kt985 mbHurricane
Jan 14, 12:0030.8N 28.7W75 kt981 mbHurricane
Jan 14, 18:0032.5N 28.0W75 kt981 mbHurricane
Jan 15, 00:0033.9N 27.6W70 kt984 mbHurricane
Jan 15, 06:0035.4N 27.2W65 kt986 mbHurricane
Jan 15, 12:0038.0N 27.0W55 kt986 mbTropical storm
Jan 15, 13:15 landfall38.7N 27.1W55 kt986 mbTropical storm
Jan 15, 18:0041.5N 27.7W55 kt986 mbExtratropical
Jan 16, 00:0045.1N 28.9W55 kt984 mbExtratropical
Jan 16, 06:0048.9N 30.2W55 kt982 mbExtratropical
Jan 16, 12:0053.0N 32.0W55 kt980 mbExtratropical
Jan 16, 18:0056.0N 37.0W55 kt979 mbExtratropical
Jan 17, 00:0057.0N 42.0W70 kt978 mbExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 2016

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.