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NHC AL021879 · Atlantic basin

Unnamed Hurricane of 1879

August 13, 1879 – August 20, 1879

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

Hurricane Unnamed 1879 storm peaked at Category 3 with 115 mph sustained winds and passed within 75 miles of 829 US cities, 785 of them while still at hurricane strength.

The 1879 storm in the record

HURDAT2 tracks the unnamed storm of 1879 (AL021879) from August 13, 1879 to August 20, 1879; its peak was 115 mph (Category 3). HURDAT2 marks 2 landfalls within 50 miles of a US city on this site, the first on August 18 at 115 mph (Category 3), 14 miles from Atlantic Beach, NC. Its centre passed within 75 miles of 829 US cities, in 12 states and territories, most in Massachusetts (218) and New York (157). The strongest pass was 115 mph (Category 3) 15 miles from Emerald Isle, NC; the centre came closest to Mashpee, MA, less than a mile away.

Peak strength
Category 3

115 mph

Cities within 75 mi
829
At hurricane strength
785

when closest

States
12

Cities Unnamed 1879 storm passed near, strongest first

North Carolina (101)

and 41 more

South Carolina (2)

Virginia (38)

Maryland (18)

Delaware (22)

New Jersey (101)

and 41 more

New York (157)

and 97 more

Connecticut (79)

and 19 more

Rhode Island (49)

Massachusetts (218)

and 158 more

Maine (3)

Puerto Rico (41)

Other storms of the 1879 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.