page_title: 1888 Louisiana hurricane
section_title: Meteorological synopsis
hierarchical_section_title: 1888 Louisiana hurricane / Meteorological synopsis
caption_attribution_description: Saffir-Simpson Hurricane ScaleTDTS12345 English: 1888 Atlantic hurricane 3 track.png track. Uses the color scheme from the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.
context_page_description: The 1888 Louisiana hurricane was a major hurricane that caused significant flooding and wind damage to the Mississippi River Delta and the Mississippi Valley in late August 1888. It was the third tropical cyclone and second hurricane of the 1888 Atlantic hurricane season. The cyclone first appeared north-northeast of the Turks and Caicos Islands, but may have formed earlier, undetected. It moved west-northwest, reaching hurricane intensity and making several landfalls in the Bahamas. In the island chain, the hurricane caused some damage to shipping, fruit groves, and fences, but apparently caused no known deaths.
  The storm then peaked as the equivalence of a strong Category 3 hurricane before hitting South Florida near present-day Miami Beach. Few people then lived in the area, so damage was mostly minimal, but a large storm surge affected the coast, and areas farther north on the peninsula reported damage to fruit groves, communications wires, and boats. Afterward, the cyclone crossed the thinly populated southern peninsula into the Gulf of Mexico, which it reached as a weaker hurricane.
context_section_description: By 12:00 UTC on August 14, a weak tropical storm with winds of 40 mph (64 km/h) formed about 100 miles (161 km) north-northeast of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Operationally, the U.S. Signal Corps, responsible for weather forecasting at the time, did not issue updates on the system until August 16, when observations first indicated a low-pressure area off the coast of South Florida. (The precise formative date of the cyclone was not documented in available observations, and may have occurred earlier than officially estimated.) Upon formation, the cyclone moved west-northwest toward The Bahamas—then a British crown colony and overseas territory—and steadily strengthened. As a strong tropical storm, the cyclone made its first landfall on the northern tip of San Salvador Island, then known as Watlings Island until 1925. It first attained hurricane intensity by 12:00 UTC on August 15, exactly 24 hours after formation. As it reached hurricane intensity, the storm made its second landfall on Cat Island in The Bahamas with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (129 km/h). Continuing on its west-northwestward course, the hurricane passed over the northern islands of Exuma with winds of 90 mph (145 km/h). Afterward, it strengthened further to the equivalent of a modern Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, with winds of 105 mph (169 km/h). Around 00:00 UTC on August 16, the center, or eye, of the cyclone passed 20 mi (32 km) south of the Bahamian capital Nassau, on New Providence Island. Still pursuing a track to the west-northwest, the cyclone made a fourth landfall on the northern portion of Andros Island. It then crossed the island in fewer than six hours, and by 06:00 UTC on August 16 it became a major hurricane—equivalent to a modern Category 3 on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale—with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h).
  After reaching major hurricane status, the cyclone approached the Gulf Stream off the southeast coast of Florida. By 12:00 UTC on August 16, it attained its first and strongest peak intensity of 125 mph (201 km/h), near the upper threshold of the modern Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. About seven hours later, the hurricane struck the coast of South Florida, just north of present-day Miami Beach, at its peak intensity. (The point of landfall was near the present-day site of Upper Eastside in Miami.) Although few observations were available near the inner core of the cyclone, scientific reassessment conducted by the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project determined that the central pressure at landfall was likely close to 945 millibars (27.91 inHg), based primarily upon an observed storm surge value. The hurricane is one of 15 major hurricanes to have impacted southeast Florida since official records in the Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT) began in 1851. After striking South Florida—now defined as part of the Miami metropolitan area—the cyclone weakened as it moved inland over the Everglades, passing well to the south of Lake Okeechobee. By 06:00 UTC on August 17, the cyclone reached the coast of Southwest Florida near present-day Cape Coral; due to interaction with land, its maximum sustained winds had decreased to 80 mph (129 km/h), equivalent to a modern Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. The storm then passed out into the Gulf of Mexico near present-day Matlacha and Cayo Costa State Park.
  After entering the Gulf of Mexico off Southwest Florida, the cyclone began to re-intensify and turn to the west. By 18:00 UTC on August 17, the hurricane regained winds equivalent to those of a modern Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. After having traveled west-northwest for its entire lifespan, at this time its path shifted to the west and began to approach the northern U.S. Gulf Coast. By 00:00 UTC on August 18, the cyclone attained its second peak intensity of 110 mph (177 km/h), just below the modern Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. As it neared the coast of Louisiana, the hurricane maintained its 
caption: Map plotting the track and the intensity of the storm, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
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