The 1996 Atlantic hurricane season had 13 named storms, of which 9 became hurricanes and 6 became major hurricanes (hurricanes that are classified as Category 3 or higher).[1] These major hurricanes were Bertha, Edouard, Fran, Hortense, Isidore, and Lili.[2][3][4][5][6][7] This timeline documents all the storm formations, strengthening, weakening, landfalls, extratropical transitions, as well as dissipation. The timeline also includes information that was not operationally released, meaning that information from post-storm reviews by the National Hurricane Center, such as information on a storm that was not operationally warned on, has been included. The season officially began on June 1, 1996, and ended on November 30 that same year.
The season's most destructive storms were Hurricane Cesar, Hurricane Fran, and Hurricane Hortense. Hurricane Cesar (later known as Hurricane Douglas in the Eastern Pacific basin) was the deadliest storm of the season; it killed at least 51 people and caused severe damage in northern Colombia and southern Central America.[8] Hurricane Fran caused $3.2 billion (1996 USD) worth of damage in the United States, mostly in North Carolina, and killed 26 people.[4] Hurricane Hortense dropped torrential rainfall on southwestern Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic, killing 21 people and leaving behind $127 million (1996 USD) in damage.[5] All three storms had their names retired by the World Meteorological Organization in the spring of 1997,[9] and were replaced with Cristobal, Fay, and Hanna for the 2002 season, respectively.
By convention, meteorologists use one time zone when issuing forecasts and making observations: Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), and also use the 24-hour clock (where 00:00 = midnight UTC).[10] The National Hurricane Center uses both UTC and the time zone where the center of the tropical cyclone is currently located. The time zones utilized (east to west) prior to 2020 were: Atlantic, Eastern, and Central.[nb 1][11] In this timeline, all information is listed by UTC first with the respective regional time included in parentheses. Additionally, figures for maximum sustained winds and position estimates are rounded to the nearest 5 units (knots, miles, or kilometers), following the convention used in the National Hurricane Center's products. Direct wind observations are rounded to the nearest whole number. Atmospheric pressures are listed to the nearest millibar and nearest hundredth of an inch of mercury.
