Skip to content
Storms That Hit

NHC AL011856 · Atlantic basin

Unnamed Hurricane of 1856

August 9, 1856 – August 12, 1856

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

Hurricane Unnamed 1856 storm peaked at Category 4 with 150 mph sustained winds and passed within 75 miles of 186 US cities, 59 of them while still at hurricane strength.

The 1856 storm in the record

HURDAT2 tracks the unnamed storm of 1856 (AL011856) for 3 days, from August 9, 1856 to August 12, 1856. Its first position, at 25.0°N 83.9°W, records it as a hurricane; its last, at 31.3°N 91.0°W, as a tropical storm. Its peak was 150 mph (130 knots), Category 4, on August 10, and its lowest central pressure was 934 millibars on August 10. It spent about 2 days at hurricane strength. HURDAT2 marks a landfall within 50 miles of a US city on this site: on August 10 at 150 mph (Category 4), 32 miles from Chauvin, LA. Its centre passed within 75 miles of 186 US cities, in 2 states, most in Louisiana (153), between August 10 and August 12. The strongest pass was 150 mph (Category 4) 29 miles from Chauvin, LA; the centre came closest to New Iberia, LA, 1 mile away. 59 of the cities had it at hurricane strength at the closest point, 43 at major-hurricane strength. It reached more US cities than 56% of the 737 storms on this site, and ranks 3rd of the 3 storms of 1856 here.

Peak strength
Category 4

150 mph

Cities within 75 mi
186
At hurricane strength
59

when closest

States
2
ShareXFacebookWhatsAppEmail

Cities Unnamed 1856 storm passed near, strongest first

Louisiana (153)

and 93 more

Mississippi (33)

Other storms of the 1856 season

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.