Hurricane Opal (1995)

Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · September 27 – October 6, 1995

Peak wind

150 mph

241 km/h · Oct 4

Peak category

Cat 4

Saffir–Simpson

Lowest pressure

916 mb

Landfalls

Florida

Lifetime

9.0 d

Sep 27 – Oct 6

Distance

2,375 mi

3,822 km

ACE

11.1

storm energy

Deaths

per Wikidata

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 Opal

Hurricane Opal (1995) was a Category 4 hurricane of the 1995 Atlantic season. It formed on September 27, 1995, 59 mi SE of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico, reached its peak of 150 mph (241 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 916 mb on October 4, 1995, and made landfall 10 mi SSE of East Pensacola Heights, Florida on October 4, 1995 as a Category 3 hurricane (115 mph). It rapidly intensified by 58 mph in 24 hours (to 150 mph on October 4, 1995). The storm lasted 9.0 days and travelled about 2,375 miles (3,822 km). According to Wikidata, it caused 63 deaths.

02 · Intensity

Wind and pressure, hour by hour

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

03 · Impact

Landfall and cities in the path

Landfall (UTC)	Where	Strength	Pressure
October 4, 1995 · 22:00 UTC	10 mi SSE of East Pensacola Heights, Florida	Cat 3 115 mph	942 mb

Closest approach to major cities

City	Distance to center	When (UTC)	Storm strength then
Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico	25 mi	Sep 30 · 22:00 UTC	TS 50 mph
Columbus, Ohio	18 mi	Oct 5 · 22:00 UTC	TS 46 mph
Cleveland, Ohio	23 mi	Oct 6 · 03:00 UTC	TS 46 mph
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada	46 mi	Oct 6 · 09:00 UTC	TS 43 mph
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada	57 mi	Oct 6 · 10:00 UTC	TS 42 mph
Brampton, Ontario, Canada	66 mi	Oct 6 · 10:00 UTC	TS 42 mph
Toronto, Ontario, Canada	54 mi	Oct 6 · 11:00 UTC	TS 41 mph
Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada	57 mi	Oct 6 · 11:00 UTC	TS 41 mph
Markham, Ontario, Canada	58 mi	Oct 6 · 12:00 UTC	TS 40 mph
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada	74 mi	Oct 6 · 18:00 UTC	TD 35 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 39 positions

Date · UTC	Status	Wind	Pressure	Position	Nearest place
Sep 27 18:00	TD	29 mph	1004 mb	19.1°N 87.3°W	59 mi SE of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 28 00:00	TD	29 mph	1004 mb	19.4°N 87.5°W	38 mi ESE of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 28 06:00	TD	29 mph	1004 mb	19.4°N 87.9°W	15 mi SE of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 28 12:00	TD	29 mph	1003 mb	19.3°N 88.2°W	22 mi SSW of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 28 18:00	TD	29 mph	1003 mb	19.3°N 88.4°W	30 mi SW of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 29 00:00	TD	29 mph	1003 mb	19.4°N 88.4°W	26 mi WSW of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 29 06:00	TD	29 mph	1003 mb	19.5°N 88.4°W	24 mi WSW of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 29 12:00	TD	29 mph	1003 mb	19.6°N 88.3°W	17 mi W of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 29 18:00	TD	35 mph	1003 mb	19.8°N 88.2°W	18 mi NNW of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 30 00:00	TD	35 mph	1002 mb	20.1°N 88.2°W	37 mi NNW of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 30 06:00	TD	35 mph	1002 mb	20.6°N 88.3°W	near Valladolid, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 30 12:00	TS	40 mph	1001 mb	21.1°N 88.5°W	14 mi WNW of Espita, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 30 18:00	TS	46 mph	1000 mb	21.4°N 89.1°W	24 mi NNE of Motul, Yucatán, Mexico
Oct 1 00:00	TS	52 mph	994 mb	21.3°N 89.9°W	15 mi W of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico
Oct 1 06:00	TS	52 mph	987 mb	21.1°N 90.7°W	53 mi W of Hunucmá, Yucatán, Mexico
Oct 1 12:00	TS	52 mph	986 mb	20.9°N 91.2°W	86 mi NNW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Oct 1 18:00	TS	58 mph	985 mb	20.8°N 91.6°W	97 mi NW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Oct 2 00:00	TS	63 mph	984 mb	20.7°N 91.9°W	108 mi NW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Oct 2 06:00	TS	69 mph	980 mb	20.8°N 92.1°W	122 mi WNW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Oct 2 12:00	Cat 1	75 mph	973 mb	21.0°N 92.3°W	141 mi NW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Oct 2 18:00	Cat 1	75 mph	972 mb	21.2°N 92.3°W	149 mi NW of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Oct 3 00:00	Cat 1	81 mph	970 mb	21.7°N 92.2°W	157 mi WNW of Hunucmá, Yucatán, Mexico
Oct 3 06:00	Cat 1	86 mph	969 mb	22.2°N 92.0°W	159 mi WNW of Hunucmá, Yucatán, Mexico
Oct 3 12:00	Cat 1	92 mph	968 mb	22.8°N 91.6°W	162 mi NW of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico
Oct 3 18:00	Cat 2	98 mph	965 mb	23.5°N 91.0°W	175 mi NNW of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico
Oct 4 00:00	Cat 3	115 mph	953 mb	24.5°N 90.1°W	open ocean
Oct 4 06:00	Cat 3	127 mph	935 mb	25.9°N 89.4°W	open ocean
Oct 4 10:00	Cat 4	150 mph	916 mb	26.6°N 88.8°W	open ocean
Oct 4 12:00	Cat 4	150 mph	919 mb	27.3°N 88.5°W	open ocean
Oct 4 18:00	Cat 3	127 mph	938 mb	29.0°N 87.7°W	86 mi S of Gulf Shores, Alabama
Oct 4 22:00	Cat 3 LANDFALL	115 mph	942 mb	30.3°N 87.1°W	10 mi SSE of East Pensacola Heights, Florida
Oct 5 00:00	Cat 1	92 mph	950 mb	31.0°N 86.8°W	21 mi NW of Crestview, Florida
Oct 5 06:00	TS	58 mph	974 mb	33.2°N 86.2°W	near Sylacauga, Alabama
Oct 5 12:00	TD	35 mph	982 mb	35.4°N 85.7°W	20 mi SSE of McMinnville, Tennessee
Oct 5 18:00	TS extratropical	46 mph	986 mb	38.5°N 83.5°W	31 mi WSW of Portsmouth, Ohio
Oct 6 00:00	TS extratropical	46 mph	989 mb	40.5°N 82.3°W	12 mi NE of Mount Vernon, Ohio
Oct 6 06:00	TS extratropical	46 mph	991 mb	42.0°N 80.5°W	near Conneaut, Ohio
Oct 6 12:00	TS extratropical	40 mph	997 mb	43.3°N 78.4°W	17 mi ENE of Lockport, New York
Oct 6 18:00	TD extratropical	35 mph	1002 mb	44.5°N 76.5°W	19 mi N of Kingston, Ontario, Canada

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

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When and where did Opal make landfall?

Opal made landfall once: 10 mi SSE of East Pensacola Heights, Florida on October 4, 1995 at 22:00 UTC, as a Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds.

What category was Opal?

At its peak on October 4, 1995, Opal was a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (241 km/h) and a central pressure of 916 mb. At its first landfall it was a Category 3 hurricane.

How long did Opal last?

9.0 days, from September 27, 1995 to October 6, 1995, including 66 hours at hurricane strength (24 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 2,375 miles.

How many people died in Opal?

Wikidata records 63 deaths for Hurricane Opal. Casualty figures for tropical cyclones vary between sources; see the linked encyclopedia article for context.

Where can I download the track data for Opal?

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 1995

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1995	Hurricane Luis Atlantic	Cat 4 150 mph	—	→
1995	Hurricane Juliette Eastern Pacific	Cat 4 150 mph	—	→
1995	Hurricane Felix Atlantic	Cat 4 138 mph	—	→
1995	Hurricane Barbara Eastern Pacific	Cat 4 138 mph	—	→
1995	Hurricane Adolph Eastern Pacific	Cat 4 132 mph	—	→
1995	Hurricane Marilyn Atlantic	Cat 3 115 mph	Dominica	→
1995	Hurricane Roxanne Atlantic	Cat 3 115 mph	Quintana Roo, Mexico	→
1995	Hurricane Humberto Atlantic	Cat 2 109 mph	—	→

See every 1995 storm on one map →

Background reading: Hurricane Opal on Wikipedia.

← Previous Atlantic stormHurricane Noel (1995)Next Atlantic storm →Hurricane Roxanne (1995)

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