Hurricane Florence was the third of four named tropical cyclones to make landfall on the United States during the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season. The seventh tropical storm and second hurricane of the season, Florence developed on September 7 from an area of convection associated with a dissipating frontal trough in the southern Gulf of Mexico. After initially moving eastward, the storm turned northward and strengthened. Florence reached hurricane status and later peak winds of 80 mph (130 km/h) on September 9 shortly before striking southeastern Louisiana. The storm rapidly weakened over land and dissipated on September 11 over northeastern Texas.