The 1928 Fort Pierce hurricane devastated areas of Florida and the Southeastern United States in August 1928. The first tropical cyclone and hurricane of the annual hurricane season, the storm developed from a tropical wave first identified on August 3, 1928, north of the Virgin Islands. Slowly intensifying as it moved west-northwest, the system paralleled the Greater Antilles throughout much of its early existence. On August 5, the tropical storm strengthened to the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane, while positioned over The Bahamas. The hurricane continued to intensify, and after reaching Category 2 hurricane strength, attained its peak intensity on August 7 with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 971 mbar (hPa; 28.70 inHg). Shortly after, the hurricane