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All storm pages · 1988 Atlantic season

Hurricane Joan 1988

Category 4 hurricane · Atlantic · October 10 to October 23, 1988

Joan's 145 mph landfall in Nicaragua on October 22, 1988 ranks tied for the third-strongest of the 27 storms with a landfall record there. It has landfall records in 3 different places: Grenada, Colombia and Nicaragua. With a peak of 145 mph, it ranked tied for the second-strongest of the 19 storms of the 1988 season. The name Joan is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Joan (1988) from the best-track record, coloured by strength10°N80°W70°W60°W50°WGrenada, 50 mphColombia, 65 mphNicaragua, 145 mphPeak 145 mphFirst recordDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 400 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Joan (1988) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160Oct 11Oct 13Oct 15Oct 17Oct 19Oct 21Oct 23mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 915 miles east-northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  2. Tropical storm 755 miles east-northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  3. Landfall Grenada: tropical storm, 50 mph, 1003 mb
  4. Landfall Colombia: tropical storm, 65 mph, 997 mb
  5. Hurricane 40 miles north-northeast of Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia
  6. Major hurricane 175 miles northeast of Colón, Panama
  7. Peak 40 miles east of Bluefields, Atlántico Sur, Nicaragua; lowest pressure 932 mb
  8. Landfall Nicaragua
  9. Last record (tropical storm) 15 miles south-southeast of León, Nicaragua

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind145 mph · tied 85th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure932 mb · tied 71st of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy23.7 · 176th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone12.5 days · tied 112th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 1988 season

04080120160200Joan

Storm 17 of 19 in 1988, hurricane 5 of 5; it formed after Isaac and before Storm 19 of 1988. Joan produced 23% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy. 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
Managua, Nicaragua1 mi60 mphOctober 23
Saint George's, Grenada3 mi50 mphOctober 15
Juigalpa, Chontales, Nicaragua5 mi75 mphOctober 22
Bluefields, Atlántico Sur, Nicaragua7 mi145 mphOctober 22
Masaya, Nicaragua10 mi65 mphOctober 23
Granada‎, Nicaragua12 mi65 mphOctober 23
Willemstad, Curacao15 mi60 mphOctober 16
León, Nicaragua17 mi50 mphOctober 23

Every storm within 50 miles of Managua, Nicaragua

Similar landfalls in Nicaragua

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Nicaragua came closest to Joan's 145 mph:

All 27 storms with a landfall record in Nicaragua

Also peaked at 145 mph

Of 23 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Gabrielle (1989)935 mb, no landfall record
  • Gloria (1985)920 mb, landfall in North Carolina
  • Edouard (1996)933 mb, no landfall record
  • Bret (1999)944 mb, landfall in Texas