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NHC AL111878 · Atlantic basin

Unnamed Hurricane of 1878

October 18, 1878 – October 25, 1878

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

Hurricane Unnamed 1878 storm peaked at Category 2 with 104 mph sustained winds and passed within 75 miles of 2,247 US cities, 1,529 of them while still at hurricane strength.

The 1878 storm in the record

HURDAT2 tracks the unnamed storm of 1878 (AL111878) from October 18, 1878 to October 25, 1878; its peak was 104 mph (Category 2). HURDAT2 marks a landfall within 50 miles of a US city on this site: on October 23 at 104 mph (Category 2), 7 miles from Swansboro, NC. Its centre passed within 75 miles of 2,247 US cities, in 16 states and territories, most in Pennsylvania (483) and Massachusetts (325). The strongest pass was 104 mph (Category 2) less than a mile from New Bern, NC.

Peak strength
Category 2

104 mph

Cities within 75 mi
2,247
At hurricane strength
1,529

when closest

States
16

Cities Unnamed 1878 storm passed near, strongest first

North Carolina (144)

and 84 more

Virginia (191)

and 131 more

Maryland (216)

and 156 more

West Virginia (15)

District of Columbia (1)

Pennsylvania (483)

and 423 more

Delaware (15)

New Jersey (214)

and 154 more

Florida (76)

and 16 more

New York (275)

and 215 more

Connecticut (75)

and 15 more

Massachusetts (325)

and 265 more

Vermont (29)

New Hampshire (130)

and 70 more

Rhode Island (19)

Maine (39)

Other storms of the 1878 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.