High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Hurricane Karl was one of four active hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean on September 26, 1998. The 11th tropical cyclone and named storm of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season, Karl developed from a non-tropical low pressure system that was noted off the coast of the Carolinas. The low became better organized in convection, and it was declared a tropical depression on September 23; it became a hurricane shortly thereafter. A small storm, Karl initially tracked towards the east before turning east-southeastward. The hurricane peaked as a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, and by September 26 it accelerated towards the northeast. Increased wind shear caused the storm to weaken, and it transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on September 28. As a tropical cyclone, Karl remained away from land; no effects or damages were reported.