Fran is a retired Atlantic hurricane name. The World Meteorological Organization took it off the lists after the 1996 storm, so no future Atlantic storm will be called Fran. Its place on the list now belongs to Fay, on the 2026 list. Since 1981, five storms have been named Fran; the strongest, in 1992, peaked as a Category 5 cyclone.
Yes. Fran is on NHC’s list of retired Atlantic names because of the 1996 storm. It is one of 100 names retired there since 1954 (Tropical Cyclone Naming History and Retired Names).
A name is retired when a storm was so deadly or costly that using the name again would be insensitive; the World Meteorological Organization then picks a new name with the same first letter at its annual meeting.
It won’t be. Retired names are not used again on the Atlantic lists. Its place on the list, the F slot, now belongs to Fay, on the 2026 Atlantic list, which is the list in use this year.
Fran formed in the Atlantic in August 1996 and peaked as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 946 mb. It made landfall near Long Beach, United States. The system was tracked for 18 days.
Hurricane Fran (1996): track and historyFran formed in the Southern Hemisphere in March 1992 and peaked as a Category 5 cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (260 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 920 mb. It made 2 landfalls, first near Tannum Sands, Australia and last near Point Vernon, Australia. The system was tracked for 17 days.
Cyclone Fran (1992): track and historyFran formed in the Atlantic in August 1990 and peaked as a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 1007 mb. It made landfall near Princes Town, Trinidad and Tobago. The system was tracked for 3 days.
Tropical Storm Fran (1990): track and historyFran formed in the Atlantic in September 1984 and peaked as a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 994 mb. It did not make landfall. The system was tracked for 5 days.
Tropical Storm Fran (1984): track and historyFran formed in the Southern Hemisphere in March 1981 and peaked as a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 985 mb. It did not make landfall. The system was tracked for 7 days.
Tropical Storm Fran (1981): track and history| Storm | Landfall near | Date (UTC) | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fran 1996 | Long Beach, United States | 1996-09-06 00:30 | 115 mph / 185 km/h |
| Fran 1992 | Tannum Sands, Australia | 1992-03-15 18:00 | 50 mph / 85 km/h |
| Fran 1992 | Point Vernon, Australia | 1992-03-16 12:00 | 50 mph / 85 km/h |
| Fran 1990 | Princes Town, Trinidad and Tobago | 1990-08-14 12:00 | 40 mph / 65 km/h |
Names go in alphabetical order, one per storm, as each storm reaches tropical-storm strength (39 mph, 34 knots), so a storm’s place in its season decides its name.
In each of 1996, 1990 and 1984, Fran was the 6th name used in the Atlantic season.
Storms named Fran appear in more than one ocean in our archive:
Each ocean region keeps its own name lists, drawn up by its own WMO regional committee (Tropical cyclone naming), so the same name can be given to unrelated storms in different oceans.
The most recent was Hurricane Fran in 1996, in the Atlantic. It formed on August 23, peaked at 120 mph (195 km/h) and lasted 18 days. It made landfall near Long Beach, United States. It was the 6th name used in that Atlantic season. Before that, the name was used in 1992, 1990, 1984 and 1981.
Cyclone Fran in 1992 was the strongest, peaking as a Category 5 cyclone with winds of 160 mph (260 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 920 mb. It formed in the Southern Hemisphere in March and made landfall near Tannum Sands, Australia. The weakest of the five, in 1990, peaked at 40 mph (65 km/h).