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All storm pages · 1996 Atlantic season

Hurricane Fran 1996

Category 3 hurricane · Atlantic · August 23 to September 8, 1996

Fran's 115 mph landfall in North Carolina on September 6, 1996 ranks tied for the second-strongest of the 69 storms with a landfall record there. With a peak of 120 mph, it ranked the third-strongest of the 13 storms of the 1996 season. It produced 14% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy. The name Fran is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Fran (1996) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N40°N80°W70°W60°W50°W40°W30°WTorontoYoungstownNorth Carolina, 115 mphPeak 120 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 300 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Fran (1996) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 404080120160Aug 24Aug 26Aug 28Aug 30Sep 1Sep 3Sep 5Sep 7Sep 9mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) far out at sea, at 14.0°N, 21.0°W
  2. Tropical storm 925 miles northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  3. Hurricane 455 miles east-northeast of Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados
  4. Major hurricane 235 miles east-northeast of Nassau, the Bahamas
  5. Peak 210 miles northeast of Nassau, the Bahamas; lowest pressure 946 mb
  6. Landfall North Carolina
  7. No longer tropical (extratropical low) 25 miles north-northwest of Brockville, Ontario, Canada
  8. Last record 50 miles northeast of Saint-Georges, Québec, Canada

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind120 mph · tied 221st of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure946 mb · tied 152nd of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy22.9 · 188th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone16.2 days · tied 24th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 1996 season

04080120160Fran

Storm 6 of 13 in 1996, hurricane 5 of 9; it formed after Edouard and before Gustav. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of at least 8 towns or cities of 10,000 people or more while the system was tropical. Distances are to the interpolated track line, not the storm's edge.

PlaceClosestWind thenDate
Toronto, Ontario, Canada1 mi30 mphSeptember 8
Durham, North Carolina3 mi60 mphSeptember 6
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada4 mi30 mphSeptember 8
Lynchburg, Virginia4 mi40 mphSeptember 6
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada6 mi35 mphSeptember 8
Morgantown, West Virginia6 mi35 mphSeptember 7
Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania6 mi35 mphSeptember 7
Youngstown, Ohio8 mi35 mphSeptember 7

Every storm within 50 miles of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Similar landfalls in North Carolina

Storms whose strongest landfall record in North Carolina came closest to Fran's 115 mph:

All 69 storms with a landfall record in North Carolina

Also peaked at 120 mph

Of 59 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Erin (2001)968 mb, no landfall record
  • Gustav (1990)956 mb, no landfall record
  • Alex (2004)957 mb, no landfall record
  • Jeanne (2004)950 mb, landfall in Guadeloupe