Tropical Depression Eight strengthened into Tropical Storm Earl. 1800 UTC (2:00 p.m. EDT) – Tropical Storm Earl strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane. September 12 1200 UTC (8:00 a.m. EDT) – Hurricane Earl strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane. September 14 1200 UTC (8:00 a.m. EDT) – Hurricane Earl attained its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of and a minimum barometric pressure of . September 16 0000 UTC (8:00 p.m. EDT September 15) – Hurricane Earl weakened back to a Category 1 hurricane. September 19 0000 UTC (98:00 p.m. EDT September 18) – Hurricane Earl transitioned into an extratropical cyclone. There was no tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic basin during October 1986. November 18 1800 UTC (2:00 p.m. EDT) – Tropical Depression Nine formed north of the Leeward Islands. November 19 0600 UTC (2:00 a.m. EDT) – Tropical Depression Nine strengthened into Tropical Storm Frances. November 20 0600 UTC (2:00 a.m. EDT) – Tropical Storm Frances strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane. 1200 UTC (8:00 a.m. EDT) – Hurricane Frances attained its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of and a minimum pressure of . November 21 1200 UTC (8:00 a.m. EDT) – Hurricane Frances weakened back into a tropical storm. November 22 0000 UTC (8:00 p.m. EDT) – Tropical Storm Frances merged with an extratropical storm. November 30 2359 UTC (7:59 p.m. EDT) – The 1986 Atlantic hurricane season officially ended. Systems Tropical Storm Andrew In early June, a large area of disturbed weather persisted over the Greater Antilles, bringing heavy rains to the islands. The area moved northward, developing a circulation over the Bahamas. Strong upper-level winds caused when satellite imagery showed a circulation developing over the Bahamas. Strong upper-level winds caused the structure to resemble a subtropical cyclone, and as a result, the system was classified as a subtropical depression on June 5. The depression moved to the northwest and transitioned into a tropical storm on June 6; it was named Andrew about southeast of Charleston, South Carolina. The tropical storm approached the South Carolina coast within before recurving to the northeast on June 7. The storm passed within of Cape Hatteras while recurving, while near its peak intensity of . The storm accelerated to the northeast, briefly crossing into the forecasting territory of Environment Canada, the first of three storms of the season to do so, before ultimately being absorbed by a low pressure