Timeline of the 1996 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1996 Atlantic hurricane season had 13 named storms, of which 9 became hurricanes and 6 became major hurricanes (hurricanes that are classified as Category 3 or higher). These major hurricanes were Bertha, Edouard, Fran, Hortense, Isidore, and Lili. This timeline documents all the storm formations, strengthening, weakening, landfalls, extratropical transitions, as well as dissipation. The timeline also includes information that was not operationally released, meaning that information from post-storm reviews by the National Hurricane Center, such as information on a storm that was not operationally warned on, has been included. The  season officially began on June 1, 1996, and ended on November 30 that same year. The season's most destructive storms were Hurricane Cesar, Hurricane Fran, and Hurricane Hortense. Hurricane Cesar (later known as Hurricane Douglas in the Eastern Pacific basin) was the deadliest storm of the season; it killed at least 51 people and caused severe damage in northern Colombia and southern Central America. Hurricane Fran caused $3.2 billion (1996 USD; $4 billion 2009 USD) worth of damage in the United States, mostly in North Carolina, and killed 26 people. Hurricane Hortense dropped torrential rainfall on southwestern  Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic, killing 21 people and leaving behind $127 million (1996 USD; $174 million 2009 USD) in damage. All three storms had their names retired by the World Meteorological Organization in the spring of 1997, and were replaced with "Cristobal", "Fay", and "Hanna" for the 2002 season, respectively.