This powerful hurricane began developing over the southwestern Caribbean Sea on 22 October. It drifted westward and became a tropical storm later that day, then turned northward and became a hurricane by the 24th. Mitch then turned westward again and rapidly strengthened, becoming a Category 5 hurricane with a central pressure of 905 mb on the 26th. After passing over Swan Island on the 27th, a weakening Mitch moved slowly southward near the coastal Islands of Honduras. It made landfall over northern Honduras on the 29th as a Category 1 hurricane. Mitch gradually turned westward after landfall, and the surface center dissipated neat the Guatemala-Honduras border on 1 November.

The remnant circulation aloft reached the Bay of Campeche on 2 November and began developing again. The re-born Mitch became a tropical storm on 3 November, then moved northeastward across the Yucatan Peninsula on the 4th. Mitch crossed south Florida as a tropical storm on the 5th and then became extratropical later that day. The extratropical cyclone remained strong as it crossed the Atlantic, eventually affecting the British Isles and Iceland on the 9th and 10th.

Mitch ravaged the offshore islands of Honduras with high winds, seas, and storm surge. However the greatest impact was widespread heavy rains and severe floods in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Mitch caused an estimated 9,000 deaths in Central America with another 9,000 missing. Thirty-one people died when the schooner Fantome sank as it encountered the high winds and seas associated with the hurricane. Two people died in the Florida Keys when a fishing boat capsized. Mitch caused tremendous property, infrastructure, and crop damage in Central America, and an additional $40 million in damage in Florida.

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Opal was first detected as a tropical wave moving off the African coast on September 11. The waved moved westward through the Atlantic and Caribbean and merged with a broad low pressure area over the western Caribbean on September 23. The combined system then developed into a tropical depression near the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula on September 27. The depression drifted slowly northward, becoming Tropical Storm Opal as it reached the north coast of Yucatan on the 30th. Opal then moved slowly westward into the Bay of Campeche, where it became a hurricane on October 2. A gradual north-northeastward turn started later on the 2nd, with acceleration on the 3rd and 4th. Opal continued to strengthen, and a period of rapid strengthening late of the 3rd and early on the 4th made it a Category 4 hurricane. Weakening followed, and Opal was a Category 3 hurricane when it made landfall near Pensacola Beach, Florida late on the 4th. Opal continued quickly north-northeastward and became extratropical over the Ohio Valley on the 5th. The cyclone was last seen over the eastern Great Lakes on October 6.

Hurlbert Field, Florida reported sustained winds of 84 mph with a peak gust of 144 mph, and gusts to 70 mph occurred as far inland as northwest Georgia. However, the main impact from Opal was from storm surge. A combination of storm surge and breaking waves inundated portions of the western Florida Panhandle coast to a depth of 10 to 20 ft. The surge was responsible for the bulk of the $3 billion in damage attributed to Opal in the United States.

Opal was responsible for 9 deaths in the United States, including 8 from falling trees and one from a tornado. Opal was responsible for 50 deaths in Mexico and Guatemala due to flooding caused by heavy rains.

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This classic Cape Verde hurricane was first detected as a tropical wave emerging from the coast of Africa on September 9. Moving steadily westward, the system became a tropical depression the next day, a tropical storm on the 11th, and a hurricane on the 13th. Hugo turned west-northwest on September 15 as it became a Category 5 hurricane. It was still a Category 4 hurricane when the center moved through the Leeward Islands and St. Croix, USVI, and the 18th. Turning northwestward, the center passed across the eastern end of Puerto Rico on September 19. This general motion would continue with some acceleration until Hugo made landfall just north of Charleston, South Carolina on 22 September. Strengthening in the last twelve hours before landfall made Hugo a Category 4 hurricane at the coast. After landfall, the storm gradually recurved northeastward, becoming extratropical over southeastern Canada on September 23.

The Naval Air Station at Roosevelt Roads, PR reported sustained winds of 104 mph with gusts to 120 mph, which were the highest winds reported from the Caribbean. A ship moored in the Sampit River in South Carolina measured sustained winds of 120 mph. High winds associated with Hugo extended far inland, with Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina reporting 67 mph sustained winds with gusts to 110 mph and Charlotte, North Carolina reporting 69 mph sustained winds and gusts to 99 mph.

Storm surge from Hugo inundated the South Carolina Coast from Charleston to Myrtle Beach, with maximum storm tides of 20 ft observed in the Cape Romain-Bulls Bay area.

Hugo was responsible for 21 deaths in the mainland United States, five more in Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands, and 24 more elsewhere in the Caribbean. Damage estimates are $7 billion in the mainland United States and $1 billion in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

<<Retired Hurricane