Hurricane History Map

Hurricane Joan:miriam path, 1988

North Atlantic basin, 10 October 1988 to 2 November 1988. Its recorded track is shown on the map and selected for you.

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Years1842 to 2026
Ocean basin

Choosing a minimum category hides storms with no wind speed in the record. To see which storms have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • Tropical depression Winds below 34 knots (39 mph)
  • Tropical storm 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph)
  • Category 1 64 to 82 knots (74 to 95 mph)
  • Category 2 83 to 95 knots (96 to 110 mph)
  • Category 3 96 to 112 knots (111 to 129 mph), major
  • Category 4 113 to 136 knots (130 to 156 mph), major
  • Category 5 137 knots (157 mph) or more, major
  • Unknown intensity No wind speed in the record
  • Post-tropical Storm has become post-tropical (dashed line)

How to read the lines. Each line is the track of one storm, drawn through its six-hourly positions and coloured by its intensity at each point (the Saffir-Simpson scale), so a line changes colour as the storm strengthens or weakens. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see which storms have passed nearby. Weaker storms appear as you zoom in. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same kind of storm with different names in different oceans.

What the record says

Joan:miriam was a hurricane in the North Atlantic basin that lasted about 23 days, from 10 October 1988 to 2 November 1988. Its peak was Category 4 (125 kt) on 22 October 1988, with a 1-minute sustained wind of 125 kt (144 mph, 232 km/h). Its lowest recorded pressure was 932 hPa.

  • Category 4peak intensity
  • 125 ktpeak wind (144 mph)
  • 932 hPalowest pressure
  • 23 dayslifetime

Source of the peak wind: NOAA National Hurricane Center (HURDAT2, Atlantic).

It has its own page because it reached category 4 or stronger.

This page gives the official record's figures. It does not describe the human cost of the storm, which is far larger than any wind speed or pressure here.

Where it came ashore

A landfall here is the first tropical position over land after time at sea, so it is within about six hours of the real event. The record shows up to 8.

Countries it came within 50 km of

Strongest effect first.

How to read this track

The line joins the storm's six-hourly positions with straight lines, coloured by its intensity at each point, so it shows how the storm strengthened and weakened. The real path curved between the positions. A dashed grey stretch means the storm had become post-tropical. Records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are estimates.

Source: NOAA NCEI IBTrACS, public domain. See data sources and caveats.

Other notable storms of the 1988 North Atlantic season

Other notable storms near Nicaragua

  • Felix (2007)31 August 2007 to 6 September 2007, peak Category 5 (150 kt), 930 hPa
  • Edith (1971)5 September 1971 to 18 September 1971, peak Category 4 (130 kt), 943 hPa
  • Eta (2020)31 October 2020 to 14 November 2020, peak Category 4 (130 kt), 922 hPa
  • Irene:olivia (1971)11 September 1971 to 1 October 1971, peak Category 3 (110 kt), 948 hPa
  • Beta (2005)26 October 2005 to 31 October 2005, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 962 hPa

The 1988 North Atlantic season · All notable storms

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