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Storms That Hit

NHC AL061881 · Atlantic basin

Unnamed Hurricane of 1881

September 7, 1881 – September 11, 1881

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

Hurricane Unnamed 1881 storm peaked at Category 2 with 104 mph sustained winds and passed within 75 miles of 380 US cities, 101 of them while still at hurricane strength.

The 1881 storm in the record

HURDAT2 tracks the unnamed storm of 1881 (AL061881) from September 7, 1881 to September 11, 1881; its peak was 104 mph (Category 2). HURDAT2 marks a landfall within 50 miles of a US city on this site: on September 9 at 104 mph (Category 2), 2 miles from Oak Island, NC. Its centre passed within 75 miles of 380 US cities, in 8 states, most in North Carolina (188) and Virginia (66). The strongest pass was 104 mph (Category 2) 20 miles from Ocean Isle Beach, NC; the centre came closest to Leland, NC, less than a mile away.

Peak strength
Category 2

104 mph

Cities within 75 mi
380
At hurricane strength
101

when closest

States
8
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Cities Unnamed 1881 storm passed near, strongest first

North Carolina (188)

and 128 more

South Carolina (19)

Virginia (66)

and 6 more

Massachusetts (43)

New Jersey (28)

Delaware (17)

Maryland (16)

New York (3)

Other storms of the 1881 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.