1998 Atlantic hurricane season

Category 3 tropical cyclone
Duration	August 15 – August 19
Peak intensity	185 km/h (115 mph) (1-min) 954 hPa (mbar)

Tropical storm
Duration	July 28 – July 31
Peak intensity	95 km/h (60 mph) (1-min) 1012 hPa (mbar)

1998 Atlantic hurricane season
	Season summary map
First storm formed	July 31, 1998
Last storm dissipated	December 1, 1998
Strongest storm	Mitch – 905 mbar (hPa) (26.74 inHg), 205 mph (335 km/h)
Total storms	14
Hurricanes	10
Major hurricanes (Cat. 3+)	3
Total fatalities	12,000+
Total damage	$12 billion (1998 USD)
	Atlantic hurricane seasons; 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000

The 1998 Atlantic hurricane season was the second deadliest Atlantic hurricane season. It began on June 1, 1998, and it ended on November 30, 1998. However, one storm lasted until after the end of the season. This season had 14 named storms, 10 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes. Storms during the season caused more than 12,000 deaths. Most of these were caused by Hurricane Mitch.

Storms

Tropical Storm Alex

On July 27, the first tropical depression started. By July 29, it became Tropical Storm Alex. Alex moved toward land but died on affect anywhere. Wind shear caused Alex to die on August 2.

Hurricane Bonnie

Hurricane Bonnie started on August 19, as a tropical depression. It had become a tropical storm by the next day. Bonnie became a hurricane after passing to the north of Puerto Rico. By August 27 it had slammed into Wilmington, North Carolina, as a category 3 hurricane. Hurricane Bonnie went back out into the Atlantic and died on August 30. Bonnie killed about 5 people and caused $1 billion in damage.

Hurricane Charley

Tropical storm

Duration	August 21 – August 24
Peak intensity	70 mph (110 km/h) (1-min) 997 mbar (hPa)

Tropical Storm Charley started in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico on August 21. It became a strong tropical storm before it made landfall near Corpus Christi in Texas. Charley had died by August 24 over western Texas. It killed between 20-26 people and caused $50 million in damage.

Hurricane Danielle

Category 1 tropical cyclone

Duration	August 23 – august 29
Peak intensity	140 km/h (85 mph) (1-min) 91020 hPa (mbar)

Hurricane Danielle started on August 24 as a tropical depression. By August 25 it was already a hurricane. It tracked across most of the Atlantic, switching between a category 1 and 2 hurricane for most of the time. Danielle headed for the United States, but missed as it turned north. The hurricane moved to the northeast and slowly weakened. On September 3, Danielle died. The remains continued until they were a few hundred miles north of Iceland on September 8.

Hurricane Earl

Category 2 hurricane

Duration	August 31 – September 3
Peak intensity	105 mph (165 km/h) (1-min) 988 mbar (hPa)

Earl started in the southern Gulf of Mexico. It soon became a tropical storm and it became a hurricane about a day later. Hurricane Earl peak as a category 2 hurricane, but it weakened back to a category 1 as it made landfall in Panama City, Florida on September 3. It soon died after it crossed into Georgia. Earl killed 3 people and caused around $79 million in damage.

Tropical Storm Frances

Tropical storm

Duration	September 8 – September 13
Peak intensity	65 mph (100 km/h) (1-min) 990 mbar (hPa)

Frances formed in the Gulf of Mexico on September 8. It soon became a tropical storm before it made landfall in Texas on September 11. Tropical Storm Frances last for two more days over land. The storm killed 2 people and caused $500 million in damage.

Hurricane Georges

Category 4 hurricane

Duration	September 15 – October 1
Peak intensity	155 mph (250 km/h) (1-min) 937 mbar (hPa)

Hurricane Georges was a very strong category 4 hurricane. Over its path it nearly became a category 5 hurricane on September 20. Notably, the storm made landfall in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. Georges made landfall near Biloxi, Mississippi on September 28. Hurricane Georges died on October 1 just before entering the Atlantic near the Florida and Georgia border. It also caused over 350,000 people to become homeless in Cuba, Haiti, and Dominican Republic. The hurricane caused almost $6 billion in damage and it killed 604 people.

Tropical Storm Hermine

Tropical storm

Duration	September 17 – September 20
Peak intensity	45 mph (75 km/h) (1-min) 999 mbar (hPa)

Hermine was a weak tropical storm that started on September 17 in the Gulf of Mexico. On September 20 it made landfall in Louisiana. It died that same day and it killed 2 people and caused only $85,000 in damage.

Hurricane Ivan

Category 1 hurricane

Duration	September 19 – September 27
Peak intensity	90 mph (150 km/h) (1-min) 975 mbar (hPa)

Ivan started on September 19 near Cape Verde Islands. It strengthened into a tropical storm soon after and head to the north. On September 23 it became a hurricane, and it soon slowly turned east. It passed just north of the Azores as a hurricane on September 26. Hurricane Ivan died on September 27.

Hurricane Jeanne

Category 2 hurricane

Duration	September 21 – October 1
Peak intensity	105 mph (170 km/h) (1-min) 969 mbar (hPa)

Jeanne started on September 21 near the coast of Africa. It became a tropical storm later that day and a hurricane soon after. Hurricane Jeanne began to turn to the east on September 25. On October 1 it crossed through the Azores before it died later that day. The remains of Jeanne reached Portugal on October 4.

Hurricane Karl

Category 2 hurricane

Duration	September 23 – September 28
Peak intensity	105 mph (170 km/h) (1-min) 970 mbar (hPa)

Hurricane Karl was, at first, Tropical Depression Eleven which formed on September 23. It later became Tropical Storm Karl and then Hurricane Karl. Hurricane Karl was one of four hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean on September 26. Karl died on September 28 near Ireland.^[1]

Hurricane Lisa

Category 1 hurricane

Duration	October 5 – October 9
Peak intensity	75 mph (120 km/h) (1-min) 995 mbar (hPa)

On October 5 Tropical Depression One formed, shortly after it became Tropical Storm Lisa. On October 9 Tropical Storm Lisa strengthened and became Hurricane Lisa. Hurricane Lisa became extratropical and dead out over the Atlantic that same day. At one point in time Hurricane Lisa moving speed was greater than 58 mph.^[2]

Hurricane Mitch

Category 5 hurricane

Duration	October 22 – November 5
Peak intensity	180 mph (285 km/h) (1-min) 905 mbar (hPa)

Hurricane Mitch was a very powerful storm. Mitch was a category 5 but it made landfall as a category 1. However Mitch still devastated Central America, causing at least 9,000 deaths and at least $5 billion in damage.^[3]

Hurricane Nicole

Category 1 hurricane

Duration	November 24 – December 1
Peak intensity	85 mph (140 km/h) (1-min) 979 mbar (hPa)

Nicole formed late in the season in the eastern Atlantic. It was named on November 24, the storm moved west-southwest for several days, and wind shear caused it to weaken to a tropical depression on November 26. However, it strengthened again and was again called a tropical storm on November 27.

Nicole was heading northeast toward the Azores as a weak hurricane. The storm then turned back to the north and was weakened to an extratropical storm on December 1. Hurricane Nicole never affected land and no damage was reported.

Storm names

Below is a full list of names that was being used in 1998. There were four storm names used for the first time they were named: Alex, Lisa, Mitch, and Nicole for the first time in 1998. Alex was used for the first time because it was a replacement for the name Andrew. Names not used are marked in gray.

Alex
Bonnie
Charley
Danielle
Earl
Frances
Georges

Hermine
Ivan
Jeanne
Karl
Lisa
Mitch
Nicole

Otto (unused)
Paula (unused)
Richard (unused)
Shary (unused)
Tomas (unused)
Virginie (unused)
Walter (unused)

Retirement

After the season there were two names that were retired: Georges and Mitch. Since they were retired, they will never be used for an Atlantic storm again. In 2004 the names: Gaston and Matthew, were used instead.