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All storm pages · 2010 Atlantic season

Hurricane Karl 2010

Category 3 hurricane · Atlantic · September 14 to September 18, 2010

Karl's 115 mph landfall in Veracruz on September 17, 2010 ranks the third-strongest of the 41 storms with a landfall record there. Its winds climbed 65 mph in the 24 hours to September 17. With a peak of 125 mph, it ranked the fifth-strongest of the 21 storms of the 2010 season.

Track of Karl (2010) from the best-track record, coloured by strength15°N20°N95°W90°W85°W80°WQuintana Roo, 65 mphVeracruz, 115 mphPeak 125 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 300 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Karl (2010) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 404080120160Sep 14Sep 15Sep 16Sep 17Sep 18mph
  1. First record (low) 135 miles south-southwest of Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, Jamaica
  2. Tropical storm 265 miles northeast of La Ceiba, Atlántida, Honduras
  3. Landfall Quintana Roo: tropical storm, 65 mph, 991 mb
  4. Hurricane 80 miles north-northwest of Frontera, Tabasco, Mexico
  5. Major hurricane 45 miles northeast of Veracruz, Mexico
  6. Peak 45 miles northeast of Veracruz, Mexico; lowest pressure 956 mb
  7. Landfall Veracruz
  8. Last record (tropical depression) 10 miles north of Tehuacan, Puebla, Mexico

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind125 mph · tied 180th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure956 mb · tied 225th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy6.2 · tied 740th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone3.8 days · tied 1173rd of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 2010 season

04080120160Karl

Storm 13 of 21 in 2010, hurricane 6 of 12; it formed after Julia and before Lisa. Karl produced 4% 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
Champotón, Campeche, Mexico2 mi50 mphSeptember 16
Córdoba, Veracruz, Mexico5 mi80 mphSeptember 17
Veracruz, Mexico9 mi115 mphSeptember 17
Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico9 mi70 mphSeptember 17
Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico10 mi60 mphSeptember 15
Tehuacan, Puebla, Mexico10 mi30 mphSeptember 18
Campeche, Mexico37 mi50 mphSeptember 16
Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico38 mi100 mphSeptember 17

Every storm within 50 miles of Veracruz, Mexico

Similar landfalls in Veracruz

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Veracruz came closest to Karl's 115 mph:

All 41 storms with a landfall record in Veracruz

Also peaked at 125 mph

Of 40 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Bertha (2008)952 mb, no landfall record
  • Danny (2015)960 mb, no landfall record
  • Kate (2003)952 mb, no landfall record
  • Isidore (2002)934 mb, landfall in Cuba