Hurricane Joan (1988)

Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · October 10–23, 1988

Peak wind

144 mph

232 km/h · Oct 22

Peak category

Cat 4

Saffir–Simpson

Lowest pressure

932 mb

Landfalls

Nicaragua · Venezuela

Lifetime

12.5 d

Oct 10 – Oct 23

Distance

3,130 mi

5,036 km

ACE

23.7

storm energy

TD TS Cat 1 2 3 4 5 · dashed = post-tropical / remnant low. Click any point or table row to jump there.

01 · The story

What happened with Joan

Hurricane Joan (1988) was a Category 4 hurricane of the 1988 Atlantic season. It formed on October 10, 1988, reached its peak of 144 mph (232 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 932 mb on October 22, 1988, and made landfall 3 times — first near Saint George's, Grenada on October 15, 1988 as a tropical storm (52 mph). Later landfalls: at 12.0°N, 71.2°W on October 17, 1988 as a tropical storm (63 mph); near Bluefields, Nicaragua on October 22, 1988 as a Category 4 hurricane (144 mph). It rapidly intensified by 52 mph in 24 hours (to 138 mph on October 22, 1988). The storm lasted 12.5 days and travelled about 3,130 miles (5,036 km).

02 · Intensity

Wind and pressure, hour by hour

Maximum sustained wind (mph) — hover or drag to scrub the map

03 · Impact

Landfalls and cities in the path

Landfall (UTC)	Where	Strength	Pressure
October 15, 1988 · 01:00 UTC	near Saint George's, Grenada	TS 52 mph	1003 mb
October 17, 1988 · 06:00 UTC	at 12.0°N, 71.2°W	TS 63 mph	997 mb
October 22, 1988 · 10:00 UTC	near Bluefields, Nicaragua	Cat 4 144 mph	932 mb

Closest approach to major cities

City	Distance to center	When (UTC)	Storm strength then
Santa Marta, Colombia	38 mi	Oct 18 · 02:00 UTC	Cat 1 77 mph
Barranquilla, Colombia	52 mi	Oct 18 · 05:00 UTC	Cat 1 80 mph
Soledad, Colombia	55 mi	Oct 18 · 05:00 UTC	Cat 1 80 mph
Managua, Nicaragua	direct hit	Oct 23 · 02:00 UTC	TS 59 mph

Distance from the city to the storm’s center, interpolated hourly between official fixes. Damaging winds, surge and rain reach far beyond the center.

04 · Timeline

Every official fix 53 positions

Date · UTC	Status	Wind	Pressure	Position	Nearest place
Oct 10 18:00	TD	29 mph	1010 mb	8.9°N 42.2°W	open ocean
Oct 11 00:00	TD	35 mph	1008 mb	9.5°N 43.6°W	open ocean
Oct 11 06:00	TS	40 mph	1005 mb	10.1°N 45.0°W	open ocean
Oct 11 12:00	TS	46 mph	1003 mb	10.7°N 46.4°W	open ocean
Oct 11 18:00	TS	52 mph	1000 mb	11.2°N 47.9°W	open ocean
Oct 12 00:00	TS	58 mph	999 mb	11.5°N 49.0°W	open ocean
Oct 12 06:00	TS	52 mph	1000 mb	11.8°N 50.1°W	open ocean
Oct 12 12:00	TS	52 mph	1003 mb	12.1°N 51.3°W	open ocean
Oct 12 18:00	TS	46 mph	1006 mb	12.3°N 52.5°W	open ocean
Oct 13 00:00	TS	46 mph	1007 mb	12.4°N 53.8°W	open ocean
Oct 13 06:00	TS	46 mph	1007 mb	12.5°N 54.9°W	open ocean
Oct 13 12:00	TS	46 mph	1006 mb	12.6°N 56.0°W	open ocean
Oct 13 18:00	TS	46 mph	1005 mb	12.7°N 57.1°W	172 mi E of Bridgetown, Barbados
Oct 14 00:00	TS	46 mph	1003 mb	12.6°N 58.3°W	96 mi ESE of Bridgetown, Barbados
Oct 14 06:00	TS	46 mph	1002 mb	12.4°N 59.4°W	51 mi SSE of Bridgetown, Barbados
Oct 14 12:00	TS	52 mph	1001 mb	12.2°N 60.0°W	68 mi SSW of Bridgetown, Barbados
Oct 14 18:00	TS	52 mph	1001 mb	12.0°N 60.8°W	57 mi N of Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago
Oct 15 00:00	TS	52 mph	1003 mb	12.1°N 61.5°W	74 mi SSW of Calliaqua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Oct 15 01:00	TS LANDFALL	52 mph	1003 mb	12.1°N 61.8°W	82 mi SSW of Calliaqua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Oct 15 06:00	TS	52 mph	1004 mb	12.1°N 62.8°W	104 mi NNE of Carúpano, Venezuela
Oct 15 12:00	TS	52 mph	1004 mb	12.0°N 63.8°W	64 mi N of Juan Griego, Venezuela
Oct 15 18:00	TS	52 mph	1003 mb	11.9°N 64.9°W	85 mi NW of Juan Griego, Venezuela
Oct 16 00:00	TS	52 mph	1002 mb	12.0°N 66.1°W	105 mi N of Higuerote, Venezuela
Oct 16 06:00	TS	58 mph	1001 mb	12.0°N 67.2°W	73 mi E of Kralendijk, Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba
Oct 16 12:00	TS	58 mph	1000 mb	11.9°N 68.2°W	18 mi SSE of Kralendijk, Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba
Oct 16 18:00	TS	58 mph	999 mb	12.0°N 69.2°W	23 mi WSW of Willemstad, Curacao
Oct 17 00:00	TS	63 mph	998 mb	12.0°N 70.2°W	13 mi NNE of Santa Cruz de los Taques, Venezuela
Oct 17 06:00	TS LANDFALL	63 mph	997 mb	12.0°N 71.2°W	65 mi W of Santa Cruz de los Taques, Venezuela
Oct 17 12:00	TS	69 mph	995 mb	11.9°N 72.1°W	37 mi NNE of Maicao, Colombia
Oct 17 18:00	TS	69 mph	993 mb	11.8°N 73.0°W	19 mi NNW of Riohacha, Colombia
Oct 18 00:00	Cat 1	75 mph	990 mb	11.8°N 74.0°W	41 mi NNE of Santa Marta, Colombia
Oct 18 06:00	Cat 1	81 mph	987 mb	11.7°N 75.0°W	53 mi NNW of Barranquilla, Colombia
Oct 18 12:00	Cat 1	86 mph	984 mb	11.5°N 75.8°W	67 mi WNW of Puerto Colombia, Colombia
Oct 18 18:00	Cat 1	92 mph	980 mb	11.3°N 76.5°W	92 mi NW of Cartagena, Colombia
Oct 19 00:00	Cat 2	104 mph	976 mb	11.2°N 77.2°W	128 mi WNW of Cartagena, Colombia
Oct 19 06:00	Cat 2	109 mph	970 mb	11.3°N 77.8°W	169 mi WNW of Cartagena, Colombia
Oct 19 12:00	Cat 3	121 mph	960 mb	11.4°N 78.3°W	163 mi NNE of Chepo, Panama
Oct 19 18:00	Cat 3	127 mph	953 mb	11.3°N 78.9°W	150 mi NNE of Colón, Panama
Oct 20 00:00	Cat 3	121 mph	956 mb	11.3°N 79.3°W	140 mi NNE of Colón, Panama
Oct 20 06:00	Cat 2	98 mph	967 mb	11.1°N 79.8°W	120 mi N of Colón, Panama
Oct 20 12:00	Cat 1	81 mph	971 mb	11.1°N 79.5°W	123 mi NNE of Colón, Panama
Oct 20 18:00	Cat 1	81 mph	973 mb	11.3°N 79.9°W	134 mi N of Colón, Panama
Oct 21 00:00	Cat 1	86 mph	972 mb	11.5°N 80.3°W	120 mi SE of San Andrés, Colombia
Oct 21 06:00	Cat 2	104 mph	970 mb	11.5°N 80.7°W	101 mi SE of San Andrés, Colombia
Oct 21 12:00	Cat 3	115 mph	964 mb	11.6°N 81.2°W	76 mi SSE of San Andrés, Colombia
Oct 21 18:00	Cat 3	127 mph	952 mb	11.8°N 81.8°W	54 mi S of San Andrés, Colombia
Oct 22 00:00	Cat 4	138 mph	937 mb	11.9°N 82.5°W	72 mi SW of San Andrés, Colombia
Oct 22 06:00	Cat 4	144 mph	932 mb	11.9°N 83.2°W	39 mi ESE of Bluefields, Nicaragua
Oct 22 10:00	Cat 4 LANDFALL	144 mph	932 mb	11.9°N 83.7°W	near Bluefields, Nicaragua
Oct 22 12:00	Cat 4	138 mph	936 mb	11.9°N 83.9°W	12 mi SW of Bluefields, Nicaragua
Oct 22 18:00	Cat 1	81 mph	983 mb	12.0°N 85.0°W	near Santo Tomás, Nicaragua
Oct 23 00:00	TS	63 mph	993 mb	12.1°N 85.9°W	12 mi NNE of Granada, Nicaragua
Oct 23 06:00	TS	52 mph	1000 mb	12.2°N 86.8°W	17 mi SSE of León, Nicaragua

⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When and where did Joan make landfall?

Joan made landfall 3 times: near Saint George's, Grenada on October 15, 1988 at 01:00 UTC, as a tropical storm with 52 mph winds; at 12.0°N, 71.2°W on October 17, 1988 at 06:00 UTC, as a tropical storm with 63 mph winds; near Bluefields, Nicaragua on October 22, 1988 at 10:00 UTC, as a Category 4 hurricane with 144 mph winds.

What category was Joan?

At its peak on October 22, 1988, Joan was a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 144 mph (232 km/h) and a central pressure of 932 mb. At its first landfall it was a tropical storm.

How long did Joan last?

12.5 days, from October 10, 1988 to October 23, 1988, including 120 hours at hurricane strength (48 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 3,130 miles.

Where can I download the track data for Joan?

The 6-hourly positions, winds, pressure and wind radii are available as CSV on this page (track.csv) — they come from the NOAA National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database and are in the public domain.

Related storms

Keep exploring

Strongest storms of 1988

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1988	Hurricane Gilbert Atlantic	Cat 5 184 mph	Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jamaica	→
1988	Hurricane Helene Atlantic	Cat 4 144 mph	—	→
1988	Hurricane Hector Eastern Pacific	Cat 4 144 mph	—	→
1988	Hurricane Fabio Eastern Pacific	Cat 4 138 mph	—	→
1988	Hurricane Uleki Central Pacific	Cat 3 127 mph	—	→
1988	Hurricane Iva Eastern Pacific	Cat 2 104 mph	—	→
1988	Hurricane Lane Eastern Pacific	Cat 2 104 mph	—	→
1988	Hurricane Kristy Eastern Pacific	Cat 1 92 mph	—	→

See every 1988 storm on one map →

Background reading: Hurricane Joan–Miriam on Wikipedia.

← Previous Atlantic stormHurricane Helene (1988)Next Atlantic storm →Hurricane Keith (1988)

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