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Storms That Hit

NHC AL071988 · Atlantic basin

Hurricane Florence (1988)

September 7, 1988 – September 11, 1988

Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated

Hurricane Florence peaked at Category 1 with 81 mph sustained winds and passed within 75 miles of 94 US cities, 1 of them while still at hurricane strength.

Florence in the record

HURDAT2 tracks Florence from September 7, 1988 to September 11, 1988; its peak was 81 mph (Category 1). HURDAT2 marks a landfall within 50 miles of a US city on this site: on September 10 at 81 mph (Category 1), 22 miles from Buras, LA. Its centre passed within 75 miles of 94 US cities, in 2 states, most in Louisiana (76). The strongest pass was 76 mph (Category 1) 2 miles from Buras, LA; the centre came closest to Violet, LA, less than a mile away.

Peak strength
Category 1

81 mph

Cities within 75 mi
94
At hurricane strength
1

when closest

States
2
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Cities Florence passed near, strongest first

Louisiana (76)

and 16 more

Mississippi (18)

Other storms of the 1988 season

  • AlbertoTropical storm · 25 cities
  • BerylTropical storm · 144 cities
  • ChrisTropical storm · 208 cities
  • KeithCategory 1 · 171 cities

All hurricanes and tropical storms →

About this record

The track is the National Hurricane Center's best-track record, revised after the season with every observation available. Strength at a city is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, not the wind that city measured.