The 1988 hurricane season

Every storm track on one map · Atlantic & Pacific · 41 systems

Atlantic storms
12
6 hurricanes · 3 major
Atlantic ACE
103
1991–2020 avg ≈ 123
Strongest
184 mph
Gilbert
Landfalling
6
Atlantic storms
Pacific storms
15
7 hurricanes · 3 major
Pacific strongest
144 mph
Hector

TD TS Cat 1 2 3 4 5 · hover a track to highlight it, click to open the storm’s own page with an animated replay.

01 · Summary

How the 1988 season went

The 1988 Atlantic season produced 12 tropical storms, 6 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes (Cat 3+), with an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) of 103. The strongest was Hurricane Gilbert at 184 mph / 888 mb. 6 storms made landfall.

The 1988 Eastern Pacific season (Eastern and Central Pacific) produced 15 tropical storms, 7 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes (Cat 3+), with an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) of 127. The strongest was Hurricane Hector at 144 mph / 935 mb. 0 storms made landfall.

02 · Timeline

Storm by storm, month by month

MAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVUnnamed storm #13 — May 31 – June 2, 1988Unnamed storm #13 TDUnnamed storm #14 — June 15–18, 1988Unnamed storm #14 TDTropical Storm Aletta — June 16–21, 1988Aletta TSTropical Storm Bud — June 20–22, 1988Bud TSUnnamed storm #15 — July 2–4, 1988Unnamed storm #15 TDHurricane Carlotta — July 8–15, 1988Carlotta Cat 1Tropical Storm Daniel — July 19–26, 1988Daniel TSTropical Storm Emilia — July 27 – August 2, 1988Emilia TSTropical Storm Gilma — July 28 – August 3, 1988Gilma TSHurricane Fabio — July 28 – August 9, 1988Fabio Cat 4Unnamed storm #16 — July 28–29, 1988Unnamed storm #16 TDHurricane Hector — July 30 – August 9, 1988Hector Cat 4Hurricane Iva — August 5–13, 1988Iva Cat 2Tropical Storm Alberto — August 5–8, 1988Alberto TSTropical Storm Beryl — August 8–10, 1988Beryl TSUnnamed storm #14 — August 13–14, 1988Unnamed storm #14 TDUnnamed storm #17 — August 14–16, 1988Unnamed storm #17 TDTropical Storm John — August 16–21, 1988John TSUnnamed storm #15 — August 20–31, 1988Unnamed storm #15 TDUnnamed storm #16 — August 20–24, 1988Unnamed storm #16 TDTropical Storm Chris — August 21–30, 1988Chris TSUnnamed storm #18 — August 27–29, 1988Unnamed storm #18 TDHurricane Uleki — August 28 – September 13, 1988Uleki Cat 3Hurricane Kristy — August 29 – September 6, 1988Kristy Cat 1Hurricane Debby — August 31 – September 8, 1988Debby Cat 1Tropical Storm Ernesto — September 3–5, 1988Ernesto TSUnnamed storm #17 — September 4–4, 1988Unnamed storm #17 TDUnnamed storm #6 — September 7–10, 1988Unnamed storm #6 TSHurricane Florence — September 7–11, 1988Florence Cat 1Hurricane Gilbert — September 8–20, 1988Gilbert Cat 5Unnamed storm #19 — September 12–15, 1988Unnamed storm #19 TDHurricane Helene — September 19–30, 1988Helene Cat 4Tropical Storm Wila — September 21–25, 1988Wila TSHurricane Lane — September 21–30, 1988Lane Cat 2Unnamed storm #18 — September 27–29, 1988Unnamed storm #18 TDTropical Storm Isaac — September 28 – October 1, 1988Isaac TSHurricane Joan — October 10–23, 1988Joan Cat 4Unnamed storm #20 — October 11–12, 1988Unnamed storm #20 TDUnnamed storm #19 — October 19–21, 1988Unnamed storm #19 TDTropical Storm Miriam — October 23 – November 2, 1988Miriam TSHurricane Keith — November 17–26, 1988Keith Cat 1

Each bar is one storm’s life, colored by its strength at that moment (faded = post-tropical). Click a bar to open the storm.

03 · Atlantic

Atlantic storms of 1988

StormDatesPeakPressureLandfallACE
Unnamed storm #13May 31 – Jun 2TD 29 mph——0.0
Tropical Storm AlbertoAug 5 – Aug 8TS 40 mph1002 mb—0.5
Tropical Storm BerylAug 8 – Aug 10TS 52 mph1001 mb—1.1
Unnamed storm #14Aug 13 – Aug 14TD 35 mph——0.0
Unnamed storm #15Aug 20 – Aug 31TD 35 mph——0.0
Unnamed storm #16Aug 20 – Aug 24TD 35 mph——0.0
Tropical Storm ChrisAug 21 – Aug 30TS 52 mph1005 mbGeorgia0.5
Hurricane DebbyAug 31 – Sep 8Cat 1 75 mph987 mbVeracruz, Mexico1.6
Tropical Storm ErnestoSep 3 – Sep 5TS 63 mph994 mb—1.3
Unnamed storm #17Sep 4 – Sep 4TD 35 mph——0.0
Unnamed storm #6Sep 7 – Sep 10TS 58 mph994 mb—1.7
Hurricane FlorenceSep 7 – Sep 11Cat 1 81 mph982 mbLouisiana3.0
Hurricane GilbertSep 8 – Sep 20Cat 5 184 mph888 mbQuintana Roo, Mexico, Jamaica, Tamaulipas, Mexico32.8
Hurricane HeleneSep 19 – Sep 30Cat 4 144 mph938 mb—31.4
Unnamed storm #18Sep 27 – Sep 29TD 29 mph——0.0
Tropical Storm IsaacSep 28 – Oct 1TS 46 mph1005 mb—0.4
Hurricane JoanOct 10 – Oct 23Cat 4 144 mph932 mbNicaragua, Venezuela, Grenada23.7
Unnamed storm #19Oct 19 – Oct 21TD 35 mph——0.0
Hurricane KeithNov 17 – Nov 26Cat 1 75 mph945 mbQuintana Roo, Mexico, Florida5.0

04 · Pacific

Eastern & Central Pacific storms of 1988

StormDatesPeakPressureLandfallACE
Unnamed storm #14Jun 15 – Jun 18TD 35 mph——0.0
Tropical Storm AlettaJun 16 – Jun 21TS 69 mph992 mb—3.1
Tropical Storm BudJun 20 – Jun 22TS 52 mph1000 mb—0.8
Unnamed storm #15Jul 2 – Jul 4TD 29 mph——0.0
Hurricane CarlottaJul 8 – Jul 15Cat 1 75 mph994 mb—4.3
Tropical Storm DanielJul 19 – Jul 26TS 63 mph994 mb—4.8
Tropical Storm EmiliaJul 27 – Aug 2TS 69 mph992 mb—2.3
Tropical Storm GilmaJul 28 – Aug 3TS 52 mph1000 mb—1.0
Hurricane FabioJul 28 – Aug 9Cat 4 138 mph943 mb—16.7
Unnamed storm #16Jul 28 – Jul 29TD 29 mph——0.0
Hurricane HectorJul 30 – Aug 9Cat 4 144 mph935 mb—22.5
Hurricane IvaAug 5 – Aug 13Cat 2 104 mph968 mb—9.8
Unnamed storm #17Aug 14 – Aug 16TD 35 mph——0.0
Tropical Storm JohnAug 16 – Aug 21TS 40 mph1004 mb—0.4
Unnamed storm #18Aug 27 – Aug 29TD 35 mph——0.0
Hurricane UlekiAug 28 – Sep 13Cat 3 127 mph——39.3
Hurricane KristyAug 29 – Sep 6Cat 1 92 mph976 mb—7.3
Unnamed storm #19Sep 12 – Sep 15TD 35 mph——0.0
Tropical Storm WilaSep 21 – Sep 25TS 40 mph——0.4
Hurricane LaneSep 21 – Sep 30Cat 2 104 mph970 mb—12.0
Unnamed storm #20Oct 11 – Oct 12TD 35 mph——0.0
Tropical Storm MiriamOct 23 – Nov 2TS 69 mph986 mb—2.8
← Previous season1987Next season →1989

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