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All storm pages · 1995 Atlantic season

Hurricane Opal 1995

Category 4 hurricane · Atlantic · September 27 to October 5, 1995

Opal came ashore in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane on October 4, 1995, with 115 mph winds. Its winds climbed 60 mph in the 24 hours to October 4. Its lowest pressure, 916 mb, was the second-lowest of the 129 Atlantic storms of the 1990s with a recorded pressure. The name Opal is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Opal (1995) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N40°N100°W90°W80°W70°WMontgomeryValladolidFlorida, 115 mphPeak 150 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 400 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Opal (1995) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160Sep 28Sep 29Sep 30Oct 1Oct 2Oct 3Oct 4Oct 5Oct 6mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 60 miles southeast of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico
  2. Tropical storm 25 miles west of Tizimín, Yucatán, Mexico
  3. Hurricane 140 miles northwest of Campeche, Mexico
  4. Major hurricane 225 miles north of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico
  5. Peak, 150 mph 240 miles south-southeast of Houma, Louisiana
  6. Landfall Florida
  7. No longer tropical (extratropical low) 55 miles west of Huntington, West Virginia
  8. Last record 20 miles north of Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind150 mph · tied 57th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure916 mb · 21st of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy11.1 · 478th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone7.8 days · tied 461st of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 1995 season

04080120160Opal

Storm 17 of 21 in 1995, hurricane 9 of 11; it formed after Noel and before Pablo. Opal produced 5% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy and ranks joint first by peak wind. 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
Gadsden, Alabama0 mi50 mphOctober 5
Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico3 mi50 mphSeptember 30
Valladolid, Yucatán, Mexico8 mi35 mphSeptember 30
Montgomery, Alabama8 mi70 mphOctober 5
Pensacola, Florida9 mi115 mphOctober 4
Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico15 mi30 mphSeptember 28
Crestview, Florida18 mi100 mphOctober 4
Motul, Yucatán, Mexico19 mi45 mphSeptember 30

Every storm within 50 miles of Pensacola, Florida

Similar landfalls in Florida

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Florida came closest to Opal's 115 mph:

  • Milton (2024)115 mph, October 10, 2024
  • Idalia (2023)115 mph, August 30, 2023
  • Betsy (1965)115 mph, September 8, 1965
  • Storm 2 of 1929115 mph, September 28, 1929

All 229 storms with a landfall record in Florida

Also peaked at 150 mph

Of 26 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Gert (1999)930 mb, no landfall record
  • Charley (2004)941 mb, landfall in Cuba
  • Dennis (2005)930 mb, landfall in Grenada
  • Gladys (1975)939 mb, no landfall record