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NHC AL041851 · Atlantic basin

Unnamed Hurricane of 1851

August 16, 1851 – August 27, 1851

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

Hurricane Unnamed 1851 storm peaked at Category 3 with 115 mph sustained winds and passed within 75 miles of 735 US cities, 217 of them while still at hurricane strength.

The 1851 storm in the record

HURDAT2 tracks the unnamed storm of 1851 (AL041851) from August 16, 1851 to August 27, 1851; its peak was 115 mph (Category 3). HURDAT2 marks a landfall within 50 miles of a US city on this site: on August 23 at 115 mph (Category 3), 8 miles from Panama City, FL. Its centre passed within 75 miles of 735 US cities, in 7 states and territories, most in North Carolina (234) and South Carolina (165). The strongest pass was 115 mph (Category 3) 10 miles from Panama City Beach, FL; the centre came closest to La Grange, NC, less than a mile away.

Peak strength
Category 3

115 mph

Cities within 75 mi
735
At hurricane strength
217

when closest

States
7

Cities Unnamed 1851 storm passed near, strongest first

Florida (51)

Alabama (26)

Puerto Rico (70)

and 10 more

Georgia (156)

and 96 more

South Carolina (165)

and 105 more

North Carolina (234)

and 174 more

Virginia (33)

Other storms of the 1851 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.