1891 Atlantic hurricane season

1891 Atlantic hurricane season
Season summary map
First system formed July 3, 1891
Last system dissipated November 6, 1891
Strongest storm1 "Martinique" – 961 mbar (hPa) (28.38 inHg), 125 mph (205 km/h)
Total storms 10
Hurricanes 7
Major hurricanes (Cat. 3+) 1
Total fatalities 700+
Total damage Unknown
1Strongest storm is determined by lowest pressure
Atlantic hurricane seasons
1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893

The 1891 Atlantic hurricane season ran through the summer and the early winter of 1891. The season had ten tropical cyclones, seven of which became hurricanes including one which became a major Category 3 hurricane. However, in the absence of modern satellite and other remote-sensing technologies, only cyclones that affected populated land areas or encountered ships at sea are currently known, so the actual total could be higher. An undercount bias of zero to four tropical cyclones per year between 1886 and 1910 has been estimated.[1] The tracks of four of the ten known 1891 Atlantic cyclones were revised in 1996 by Jose Fernandez-Partagas.[2] Following re-analysis in 2003, two storms previously considered distinct are now regarded as a single system, Tropical Storm 8. A number of other storms from 1891 were considered for inclusion in the Atlantic hurrice database, HURDAT, but are currently excluded due to a lack of evidence of tropical storm intensity.[3]

Timeline

Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale

Storms

Hurricane One

Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS)
Duration July 3 – July 8
Peak intensity 90 mph (150 km/h) (1-min)  977 mbar (hPa)

A tropical storm formed in Gulf of Mexico northwest of Campeche on July 3. By the evening of July 6 it was approaching the coastline of Texas and had become a Category 1 hurricane. It made landfall just west of Galveston and quickly weakened to a tropical storm. It dissipated near the Alabama-Tennessee state line two days later after further weakening to a tropical depression.[4] Sections of Galveston were flooded by a storm surge.[5] At Baton Rouge, tornados related to the hurricane demolished a hundred homes and caused two floors of the state penitentiary to collapse killing ten prisoners.[2]

Hurricane Two

Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS)
Duration August 17 – August 29
Peak intensity 75 mph (120 km/h) (1-min) ≤ 997 mbar (hPa)

A tropical storm formed south of the Cape Verde Islands on August 17 and travelled on a northwesterly path before dissipating in the Atlantic Ocean on August 29 without making a landfall. For the majority of this period it is believed to have been a minimal Category 1 hurricane based on readings taken at Bermuda, which it passed on August 27, the capsizing of a steamer, the Dunsmurry on August 29 and observations from another ship, La Touraine, which ran into the rough seas left in the hurricane's wake on August 30 and 31st.[2]

Hurricane Three

Category 3 hurricane (SSHWS)
Duration August 18 – August 25
Peak intensity 125 mph (205 km/h) (1-min)  961 mbar (hPa)

A Category 2 hurricane with winds of 105 mph (169 km/h) was first seen at mid-day on August 18 about 100 mi (160 km) east of Barbados. The hurricane tracked northwestward at 20 mph (32 km/h), and grew to a major Category 3 hurricane. That night, the hurricane passed over Martinique, lashing the island for four hours. After reaching its peak intensity with winds of 125 miles per hour (201 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 961 mb, the storm began to weaken, becoming a Category 2 storm early on August 20. That evening it passed to the south of Puerto Rico and, as it began to turn northward, it made landfall on the extreme eastern edge of the Dominican Republic with winds of 100 mph (160 km/h). Around midnight on August 21, the cyclone passed north of Grand Turk. During the late afternoon and into the evening hours there, frequent rain squalls occurred, and at 10:15 pm a strong gust of wind was reported. After that gust, the winds decreased in intensity, until around midnight when winds picked up from the west. By 8:00 am the next morning, the wind was blowing southerly, and steady rain was falling on the island.[2]

The hurricane continued to weaken whilst traveling northeastward through the Bahamas on August 22. The center of the storm passed directly over Crooked Island, Bahamas. From August 23, a ridge of high pressure situated off the southeast coast of the United States prevented the, now Category 1, storm recurving to the north. Instead, it passed over the Florida Peninsula as a tropical storm, making landfall near Homestead on August 24. Subsequently, it moved into the Gulf of Mexico, where it dissipated on August 25.[4]

On Martinique, the storm destroyed houses, crops and trees across the entire island. Fifty boats in harbours around Martinque were damaged or destroyed. At Ducos, only four homes remained following the storm, and at St. Pierre, at least 34 people lost their lives. At Fort de France, twenty people were killed. A military camp at Balata was destroyed, with a number of soldiers there sustaining injuries from airborne debris.[6] In total, the death toll from this hurricane was put at 700.[7] In South Florida, the cyclone also produced hurricane-force winds that blew boats ashore near present-day Cutler.[8]

Hurricane Four

Category 2 hurricane (SSHWS)
Duration September 2 – September 8
Peak intensity 100 mph (155 km/h) (1-min) 

On September 2 a tropical storm formed northeast of the Leeward Islands. It began moving northwestward and reached category 2 hurricane strength by September 4. By September 7 the cyclone was off the coast of New England and was bringing heavy rain to that area. When the hurricane made landfall in Nova Scotia and then Newfoundland on September 8 it destroyed a number of small vessels[2] but then quickly weakened and dissipated north of Newfoundland in the Labrador Sea on September 10.[4]

Hurricane Five

Category 2 hurricane (SSHWS)
Duration September 16 – September 26
Peak intensity 100 mph (155 km/h) (1-min)  ≤980 mbar (hPa)

A tropical storm formed in the open Atlantic near 19°N 47°W on September 16, before developing into a Category 2 hurricane on September 20. This hurricane never made landfall but did pass within 100 km of Bermuda on the night of September 21. A ship was reported wrecked on the coast of the island that night.[2] The hurricane became an extratropical storm on September 26 in the mid-Atlantic off Novia Scotia.[4]

Hurricane Six

Category 2 hurricane (SSHWS)
Duration September 29 – October 5
Peak intensity 100 mph (155 km/h) (1-min)  ≤981 mbar (hPa)

A tropical storm formed in the open Atlantic near 21°N 54°W on September 29. It moved northwestward becoming first a Category 1 hurricane then, October 3 a Category 2 hurricane. At this strength it paseed to the south, then to the west, of Bermuda on October 4. It quickly weakened as it continued heading north and was already an extratropical storm when it made landfall in Nova Scotia on October 6. It also affected Newfoundland before dissipating in the Labrador Sea on October 8.[4]

Tropical Storm Seven

Tropical storm (SSHWS)
Duration October 4 – October 8
Peak intensity 50 mph (85 km/h) (1-min)  1004 mbar (hPa)

A moderate tropical storm formed in the Caribbean Sea south of Jamaica on October 4 and passed to the west of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands before striking the Isla de la Juventud and Cuba on October 6. The next day it passed across southern Florida before travelling northeastward off the east coast of the United States and then decaying in the open Atlantic on October 8. Some vessels were driven ashore on the coast of Cuba and two people drowned in flooding on the island.[2]

Tropical Storm Eight

Tropical storm (SSHWS)
Duration October 7 – October 9
Peak intensity 45 mph (75 km/h) (1-min)  ≤1004 mbar (hPa)

A tropical depression formed north of Honduras on October 7 and strengthened into a tropical storm the next day. On October 9 it passed across Cuba and quickly weakened to become an extratropical storm. As an extratropical storm it made landfalls in Florida on October 10 and, five days later, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland where it dissipated.[4]

Hurricane Nine

Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS)
Duration October 12 – October 20
Peak intensity 85 mph (140 km/h) (1-min)  ≤992 mbar (hPa)

A tropical storm formed north of Grenada on October 12, and made landfalls on Saint Croix and the main Virgin Islands on October 14.The system strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane as it proceeded north. The storm centre passed west of Bermuda on October 18 at that strength but weakened to a tropical storm just before affecting the southern tip of Newfoundland on October 20.[4]

Tropical Storm Ten

Tropical storm (SSHWS)
Duration November 3 – November 6
Peak intensity 60 mph (95 km/h) (1-min) 

On November 3 a tropical storm formed northeast of present-day Nassau, Bahamas. It treked north, passing east of Bermuda on November 5. The storm never made a landfall before dissipating in the open Atlantic off Novia Scotia on November 6.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Landsea, C. W. (2004). "The Atlantic hurricane database re-analysis project: Documentation for the 1851–1910 alterations and additions to the HURDAT database". In Murname, R. J.; Liu, K.-B. Hurricanes and Typhoons: Past, Present and Future. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 177–221. ISBN 0-231-12388-4.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Fernández-Partagás, José; Diaz, Henry F. (1997). A Reconstruction of Historical Tropical Cyclone Frequency in the Atlantic from Documentary and other Historical Sources Part IV: 1891-1890. Boulder, Colorado: Climate Diagnostics Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  3. ↑ Hurricane Research Division (2008). "Documentation of Atlantic Tropical Cyclones Changes in HURDAT". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hurricane Research Division (2012). "Easy to Read HURDAT". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  5. ↑ David Roth (2010-02-04). "Texas Hurricane History" (PDF). National Weather Service. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
  6. ↑ "Fearful work of a storm" (PDF). New York Times. August 21, 1891. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  7. ↑ Edward N. Rappaport & Jose Fernandez-Partagas (1996). "The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492–1996: Cyclones with 25+ deaths". National Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  8. ↑ Taylor 1985, p. 7

Bibliography

External links

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