1988 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1988 Atlantic hurricane season was an ongoing event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation. It officially started June 1, 1988, and lasted until November 30, 1988.
The most notable storms of the season were Hurricane Gilbert and Hurricane Joan.
Hurricane Gilbert caused widespread serious damage across the Caribbean and into Central America. Gilbert killed 318 people, most in Mexico, and was the first hurricane to make landfall in Jamaica since 1951.
Hurricane Joan was a very unusual storm. It formed east of the Windward Islands, and then hugged the northern coast of South America for several days, only the second storm known to have taken that track. It reached hurricane strength while off the coast of Colombia, and made landfall at Bluefields, Nicaragua. Joan killed 148 in Nicaragua, with the large death toll is in part blamed on residents' resistance to evacuation. Joan strengthened rapidly in the day before landfall, and was a Category 4 storm when it crossed the coastline.
Another 68 were killed in other affected nations. Damage in Nicaragua was estimated at 840 million USD (1988 dollars). Damage estimates outside Nicaragua are not available, but are likely to be many hundreds of millions of dollars.
After passing over Nicaragua and into the Pacific Ocean, Joan was renamed Hurricane Miriam. Greatly weakened, Miriam managed to maintain minimal strength for almost two weeks, but eventually dissipated. Joan/Miriam is one of only seven storms on record as having made the transition from an Atlantic to a Pacific hurricane.
Tropical Storm Alberto
A Tropical Depression formed off
South Carolina on
August 5 and followed the
East Coast of the United States northwards. It became a tropical storm on
August 7 and crossed the
Canadian Maritimes before becoming extratropical near
Newfoundland. There was no significant damage.
Tropical Storm Beryl
A tropical depression developed over
Louisiana on
August 7. It drifted south and strengthened to Tropical Storm Beryl before retuning over
New Orleans and heading inland. One death at sea was attributed to Beryl, and damage to coastal areas was estimated at $4 million.
Tropical Storm Chris
A Tropical Depression formed in mid-
Atlantic on
August 21, passed though the
Lesser Antilles, across
Hispaniola and through the
Bahamas before becoming Tropical Storm Chris east of
Florida on
August 28. It made landfall near
Savannah, Georgia and moved up the
Eastern Seaboard as a tropical depression, merging with a frontal system on
August 30. 3 deaths occurred in
Puerto Rico and one in
South Carolina, damage was minor.
Hurricane Debby
A detached portion of the same tropical wave that spawned Chris formed a second tropical depression west of
Yucatan on
August 31. Moving westward it became a tropical storm, and was measured at hurricane strength just before landfall at
Tuxpan,
Mexico. The centre made the transition to a
Pacific cyclone as Tropical Depression Seventeen-E. It is believed to have been a hurricane for about 6 hours.
10 deaths were reported from Mexico, mostly caused by mudslides.
Tropical Storm Ernesto
Ernesto formed east of
Bermuda on
September 3 and moved rapidly east across the Atlantic. It was absorbed by an extratropical low north of the Azores. There were no reports of damage or casualties.
Hurricane Florence
Florence formed in the western
Gulf of Mexico on
September 7, and after a couple of days of rather aimless motion accelerated rapidly northwards. It became a hurricane about 12 hours before crossing the
Mississippi Delta and passing over
New Orleans and
Lake Pontchartrain. The dwindling storm was tracked as far as north-east
Texas.
Damage in
Louisiana was estimated at $2.5 million, with a further $300,000 due to flooding in the
Florida Panhandle. One storm-related death was reported.
Unnamed storm (TD 13)
Tropical Depression 13 formed north-east of
Cape Verde on
September 7. It headed north-northwest and faded out west of the
Western Sahara region on
September 10. Ship and satellite observations indicate it maintained storm strength for about 48 hours, but in view of its extreme eastern track it was not assigned a name at the time. Moderate to heavy rain was reported from the west coast of
Africa, no damage was reported.
Hurricane Gilbert
Hurricane Gilbert caused widespread serious damage across the
Caribbean and into
Central America. Gilbert killed 318 people, most in
Mexico, and was the first hurricane to make landfall in
Jamaica since
1951.
Main article Hurricane GilbertHurricane Helene
Helene formed west of
Cape Verde on
September 17 and swung to the north in the central Atlantic. It strengthened to Category 4 by
September 23 before weakening over cooler water, eventually becoming extratropical on
September 30. It never approached land and no damage or casualties were reported.
Tropical Storm Isaac
Tropical Storm Isaac was a short lived system, being named on
September 30 east of the
Lesser Antilles but maintaining storm strength for only 18 hours. The circulation faded away soon after. There were no reports of damage or casualties.
Hurricane Joan
Main article: Hurricane Joan
Hurricane Joan killed 148 people in Nicaragua alone, and another 68 people in other affected nations.
Tropical Storm Keith
The last storm of the season became a Tropical Depression south of
Haiti on
November 17 and reached storm strength on
November 20. It curved round to clip the tip of the
Yucatan peninsula, then crossed
Florida from
Sarasota to
Melbourne on
November 23. It became an intense extratropical system over the Atlantic, with sustained winds reaching minimal hurricane force.
Damage from storm-surges in Florida was put at $3 million. Flooding in western
Cuba caused considerable damage to crops. No fatalities were recorded.
The following names were used for named storms that formed in the north Atlantic in 1988. The names not retired from this list were used again in the
1994 season. This is the same list used for the
1982 season. Storms were named Florence, Gilbert, Isaac, Joan, and Keith for the first time in 1988. Names that were not assigned are marked in
gray.
* Alberto
* Beryl
* Chris
* Debby
* Ernesto
* Florence
* Gilbert |
* Helene
* Isaac
* Joan
* Keith
* Leslie (unused)
* Michael (unused)
* Nadine (unused) |
* Oscar (unused)
* Patty (unused)
* Rafael (unused)
* Sandy (unused)
* Tony (unused)
* Valerie (unused)
* William (unused) |
Retirement
The
World Meteorological Organization retired two names in the
spring of
1989: Gilbert and Joan. They were replaced in the
1994 season by Gordon and Joyce.
*
Lists of tropical cyclone names*
List of notable tropical cyclones* [ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/pub/storm_archives/atlantic/prelimat/atl1988/ Detailed information on all storms from 1988]
