A Category 4 Atlantic hurricane is a tropical cyclone that reaches Category 4 intensity on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Category 4 hurricanes that later attained Category 5 strength are not included in this list. The Atlantic basin includes the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Category 4 is the second-highest hurricane classification category on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale, and storms that are of this intensity maintain maximum sustained winds of 113–136 knots (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h). Based on the Atlantic hurricane database, 143 hurricanes have attained Category 4 hurricane status since 1851, the start of modern meteorological record keeping.
Statistics Wind, damage, and storm surge statistics Category 4 hurricanes have maximum sustained winds of 113–136 knots (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h). "Sustained winds" refers to the average wind speed observed over one minute at a height of 10 meters (33 ft) above ground. Gusts can be up to 30% higher than the sustained winds. Mobile homes and other buildings without fixed structures can be completely destroyed, and the lower floors of sturdier structures usually sustain major damage. In addition to the winds, the cyclones generally produce a storm surge of 13–18 feet (4–5.5 m) above normal, potentially causing major beach erosion. Heavy, irreparable damage and/or near complete destruction of gas station canopies and other wide span overhang type structures are also very common, and mobile and manufactured homes are often completely destroyed. Low-level terrain may be flooded well inland, as well. In addition, Category 4 hurricanes are often Cape Verde-type hurricanes. Cape Verde hurricanes are usually the strongest, and their track sometimes points them towards the United States, or other land.
History of Category 4 Atlantic hurricanes The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes appears to have nearly doubled in occurrence from 1970 to 2004. It is possible that the increase in Atlantic tropical storm and hurricane frequency is primarily due to improved monitoring.
Due to growing population in major coastal cities, many areas have become more vulnerable to strong hurricanes, especially categories 4 and 5.weather.com - Vulnerable Cities: Index
Meteorological measurements All of the storms listed in this analysis are listed in chronological order, but they also list the minimum central pressure and maximum sustained winds. Each of these meteorological readings are taken using a specific meteorological instrument. For modern storms, the minimum pressure measurements are taken by reconnaissance aircraft using dropsondes, or by determining it from satellite imagery using the Dvorak technique. For older storms, pressures are often incomplete, typically being provided by ship-reports or land-observations. None of these methods can provide constant pressure measurements; thus it is possible the only measurement occurred when the cyclone was at a lesser strength. Sustained winds are taken using an Anemometer at 10 meters (33 ft) above the ground. Accessed through the Wayback Machine.
Climatology A total of 94 hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean Basin, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, have reached Category 4 status as their peak intensity. (Note that Category 4 storms that intensified later to Category 5 status are not included in this analysis.)
Most Category 4 hurricanes occur during September, with 51 storms occurring in that month. This coincides with the average peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, which occurs on September 10. Most Category 4 hurricanes develop in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Several Category 4 hurricanes are Cape Verde-type hurricanes. There have been no Category 4 hurricanes to form in either May or December, or in any other month outside the traditional bounds of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Systems 1851–1949
| Unnamed || || || || None || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || United States Gulf Coast || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || The Caribbean || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || The Caribbean || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || The Caribbean, Mexico, Texas || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || None || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || The Caribbean, Southeastern United States || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || Eastern United States, Atlantic Canada || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || The Caribbean, Eastern United States, Atlantic Canada || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || The Caribbean, Eastern United States, Atlantic Canada || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || Lesser Antiles, Greater Antiles || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || The Bahamas, Eastern United States, Atlantic Canada || || || |- | Unnamed || || || || The Caribbean, Southeastern United States || || || |- | Unnamed || September 1931 || || |- | Unnamed || August 1932|| || |- | Unnamed || September 1932 || || |- | Unnamed || August 1933 || || |- | Unnamed || August, September 1933 || || |- | Unnamed || September 1933 || || |- | Unnamed || August 1935 || || |- | Unnamed || September, October 1935 || || |- | Unnamed || October 1939 || || |- | Unnamed || September 1941 || || |- | Unnamed || August 1943 || || – |- | Unnamed || October 1944 || || |- | Unnamed || September 1945 || || |- | Unnamed || September 1947 || || |- | Unnamed || September 1948 || || |- | Unnamed || September 1948 || || |- | Unnamed || August 1949 || ||
1950–1974
In the years between 1950 and 1974, there were 26 Category 4 hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. A denotes that the storm temporarily weakened below Category 4 intensity during the specified period of time.
+ List of Category 4 Atlantic hurricanes from 1950 to 1974 Stormname Track Season Dates as aCategory 4 Maximumsustained winds Minimum pressure Notes Dog 1950 Fox 1950 King 1950 Charlie 1951 Easy 1951 Fox 1952 Hazel 1954 Connie 1955 Ione 1955 Carrie 1957 Cleo 1958 Daisy 1958 Helene 1958 Gracie 1959 Donna 1960 Betsy 1961 Carla 1961 Frances 1961 Flora 1963 Cleo 1964 Dora 1964 Gladys 1964 Hilda 1964 Betsy 1965 Celia 1970 Edith 1971 Becky 1974 Carmen 1974 Sources: Atlantic Hurricane Best Track File 1851–2012
1975–1999
In the years between 1976 and 1999, 23 Category 4 hurricanes formed in the basin:
+ List of Category 4 Atlantic hurricanes from 1976 to 2000 Stormname Track Season Dates as aCategory 4 Maximumsustained winds Minimum pressure Notes Gladys 1975 Ella 1978 Greta 1978 Frederic 1979 Harvey 1981 Debby 1982 Diana 1984 Gloria 1985 Helene 1988 Joan 1988 Gabrielle 1989 Claudette 1991 Felix 1995 Luis 1995 Opal 1995 Edouard 1996 Hortense 1996 Georges 1998 Bret 1999 Cindy 1999 Floyd 1999 Gert 1999 Lenny 1999
2000–2025 In the years between 2000 and 2025, 40 Category 4 hurricanes formed within the confines of the Atlantic Ocean. A denotes that the storm temporarily weakened below Category 4 intensity during the specified period of time.
+ List of Category 4 Atlantic hurricanes from 2000–present Stormname Track Season Dates as aCategory 4 Maximumsustained winds Minimum pressure Notes Isaac 2000 Keith 2000 Iris 2001 Michelle 2001 Lili 2002 Fabian 2003 Charley 2004 Frances 2004 Karl 2004 Dennis 2005 Gustav 2008 Ike 2008 Omar 2008 Paloma 2008 Bill 2009 Danielle 2010 Earl 2010 Igor 2010 Julia 2010 Katia 2011 Ophelia 2011 Gonzalo 2014 Joaquin 2015 Nicole 2016 Harvey 2017 Jose 2017 Florence 2018 Laura 2020 Teddy 2020 Delta 2020 Eta 2020 ) Iota 2020 ) Ida 2021 ) Sam 2021 ) Fiona 2022 Franklin 2023 Idalia 2023 Helene 2024 Kirk 2024 Gabrielle 2025
Number by month
Landfalls The following hurricanes from the above lists made landfall at some location while a tropical cyclone with winds of greater than . Due to inaccuracies in data, tropical depression landfalls are not included. Category 5 hurricanes are also not included in the table below. Several of these storms weakened slightly after attaining Category 4 status as they approached land; this is usually a result of dry air, shallower water due to shelving, cooler waters, or interaction with land.
NameYear "Last Island" 1856 Louisiana "Unnamed" 1866 Bahamas "Unnamed" 1878 Haiti & Turks and Caicos Islands "Unnamed" 1880 Texas Quintana Roo Guadeloupe "Unnamed" 1882 Cuba Florida Indianola 1886 Texas Dominican Republic & Cuba Cheniere Caminada 1893 Louisiana Quintana Roo & Mississippi Unnamed 1894 Saint Lucia Georgia 1898 Georgia San Ciriaco 1899 Guadeloupe & Puerto Rico Bahamas & North Carolina Galveston (1900) 1900 Texas Antigua, Nevis, Dominican Republic & Cuba Unnamed 1910 Cuba Florida Galveston (1915) 1915 Texas Jamaica Guadeloupe New Orleans 1915 Louisiana Florida Keys 1919 Bahamas & Texas Puerto Rico Tampa Bay 1921 Florida Nassau 1926 Bahamas Florida Miami 1926 Bahamas & Florida Alabama Unnamed 1926 Cuba Bermuda Unnamed 1929 Bahamas Florida Florida San Zenón 1930 Dominican Republic Guadeloupe Cuba & Florida Unnamed 1932 Texas San Ciprián 1932 Puerto Rico Dominican Republic Belize Chesapeake–Potomac 1933 North Carolina Treasure Coast 1933 Bahamas Florida Outer Banks 1933 North Carolina Nova Scotia Unnamed 1945 Florida Bahamas South Carolina Unnamed 1948 Florida Cuba Unnamed 1949 Florida Bahamas Charlie 1951 Quintana Roo Tamaulipas Jamaica Dominica King 1950 Florida Cuba Fox 1952 Cuba Bahamas Bahamas Hazel 1954 North Carolina Haiti & Turks and Caicos Islands Connie 1955 North Carolina Carrie 1957 Azores Helene 1958 North Carolina Newfoundland Gracie 1959 South Carolina Donna 1960 Florida Barbuda, Anguilla, & Bahamas North Carolina, New York & Connecticut Carla 1961 Texas Flora 1963 Haiti Tobago & Cuba Cuba Cleo 1964 Guadeloupe & Haiti Florida Cuba Georgia Dora 1964 Florida Hilda 1964 Louisiana Betsy 1965 Louisiana Bahamas & Florida Celia 1970 Texas Edith 1971 Nicaragua Louisiana Belize, Mexico Carmen 1974 Quintana Roo Louisiana Greta 1978 Honduras Belize Frederic 1979 Alabama Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic & Cuba Diana 1984 North Carolina Gloria 1985 North Carolina New York & Connecticut Joan 1988 Nicaragua Grenada, Colombia & Venezuela Luis 1995 Barbuda Opal 1995 Florida Yucatán Peninsula Hortense 1996 Puerto Rico & Nova Scotia Guadeloupe Georges 1998 Antigua, Saint Kitts, Puerto Rico & Dominican Republic Florida & Mississippi Cuba Bret 1999 Texas Floyd 1999 Bahamas Bahamas North Carolina Virginia, New Jersey, New York & Connecticut Lenny 1999 Saint Martin Anguilla Saint Barthélemy Antigua Keith 2000 Belize & Tamaulipas Iris 2001 Belize Michelle 2001 Cuba Bahamas Lili 2002 Cuba Cayman Islands & Louisiana Charley 2004 Florida Cuba South Carolina Frances 2004 Bahamas Bahamas & Florida Florida Dennis 2005 Cuba Florida Gustav 2008 Cuba (2x) Louisiana Haiti Jamaica Ike 2008 Cuba Bahamas Texas Cuba Paloma 2008 Cuba Bill 2009 Newfoundland Earl 2010 Nova Scotia Prince Edward Island Igor 2010 Newfoundland Gonzalo 2014 Bermuda Antigua, Saint Martin & Anguilla Joaquin 2015 Bahamas Bahamas (2x) Harvey 2017 Texas Texas Barbados, Saint Vincent & Louisiana Florence 2018 North Carolina Laura 2020 Louisiana Antigua, Nevis, Dominican Republic & Cuba (2x) Delta 2020 Quintana Roo & Louisiana Eta 2020 Nicaragua Cuba & Florida (2x) Iota 2020 Nicaragua Ida 2021 Louisiana Cuba Fiona 2022 Grand Turk Island Puerto Rico & Dominican Republic Guadeloupe Franklin 2023 Dominican Republic Idalia 2023 Florida Helene 2024 Florida
See also
Atlantic hurricane season Lists of Atlantic hurricanes List of Category 3 Atlantic hurricanes List of Category 4 Pacific hurricanes List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes