1891 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1891 Atlantic hurricane season began during the summer and ran through the late fall of 1891. The season had ten tropical cyclones. Seven of these became hurricanes; one becoming a major Category 3 hurricane.

1891 Atlantic hurricane season
Season summary map
Seasonal boundaries
First system formedJuly 3, 1891
Last system dissipatedNovember 6, 1891
Strongest storm
Name"Martinique"
 • Maximum winds125 mph (205 km/h)
(1-minute sustained)
 • Lowest pressure961 mbar (hPa; 28.38 inHg)
Seasonal statistics
Total storms10
Hurricanes7
Major hurricanes
(Cat. 3+)		1
Total fatalities700+
Total damageUnknown
Related article

Because there were no modern satellite or other remote-sensing technologies, only cyclones that affected populated land areas or that encountered ships at sea are currently known, so the true total could be higher. For the years 1886 through 1910, an undercount bias of zero to four tropical cyclones per year has been estimated.[1]

The tracks of four of the ten 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 hurricane database, HURDAT, but are currently excluded due to a lack of evidence of tropical storm intensity.[3]

Timeline
Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale

Systems

Hurricane One
Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS)
 
DurationJuly 3 – July 8
Peak intensity90 mph (150 km/h) (1-min);
977 mbar (hPa)

A tropical storm formed in the 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, tornadoes related to the hurricane demolished one hundred homes and caused two floors of the state penitentiary to collapse, killing ten prisoners.[2]

Hurricane Two
Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS)
 
DurationAugust 17 – August 29
Peak intensity75 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 landfall. For the majority of this period, it is believed to have been at least a Category 1 hurricane based on several factors: 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 on August 30-31 encountered the rough seas left in the hurricane's wake.[2]

Hurricane Three
Category 3 hurricane (SSHWS)
 
DurationAugust 18 – August 25
Peak intensity125 mph (205 km/h) (1-min);
961 mbar (hPa)

The Martinique Hurricane of 1891 or Hurricane San Magín of 1891

Main article: 1891 Martinique hurricane

A Category 2 hurricane with winds of 105 mph (170 km/h) was first seen at mid-day on August 18 about 100 mi (160 km) east of Barbados. The hurricane tracked northwestward and intensified into a major Category 3 hurricane. Late on August 18, the cyclone struck Martinique at its peak intensity with sustained winds of 125 mph (205 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 961 mbar (28.4 inHg). The storm weakened over the northeastern Caribbean and fell to Category 2 intensity early on August 20. Several hours later, the system turned northward and brushed the extreme eastern edge of the Dominican Republic with winds of 100 mph (155 km/h). Resuming its northwestward motion on August 21, the cyclone passed north of Grand Turk early the next day. The hurricane continued to weaken while traveling northwestward through the Bahamas and passed directly over Crooked Island. On August 23, a ridge of high pressure situated off the southeast coast of the United States prevented the storm, which had weakened to a Category 1 hurricane, from curving back to the north. Instead, the cyclone struck Florida near Homestead on August 24 and subsequently 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 harbors around Martinique 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] Property damage across the island reached approximately $10 million.[2] In total, the hurricane killed approximately 700 people on Martinique.[7] Puerto Rico observed heavy rainfall and hurricane-force wind gusts. The Humacao River overflowed, inundating the city. Waterways between Cabo Rojo and Hormigueros also exceeded their banks, flooding many low-lying areas and sweeping animals away.[2] The steamship Ozama reported hundreds of downed fruit trees and numerous damaged homes in the Dominican Republic.[8] The storm drowned three people on Grand Turk and damaged some small homes and vessels.[2] In South Florida, the cyclone also produced hurricane-force winds that blew boats ashore near present-day Cutler.[9]

Hurricane Four
Category 2 hurricane (SSHWS)
 
DurationSeptember 2 – September 8
Peak intensity100 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 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]

In Nova Scotia, the storm was compared to a hurricane in 1873.[10] Observed sustained winds reached 60 mph (97 km/h), causing "great destruction to crops, shipping, and buildings", according to the The Huddersfield Daily Chronicle. Damage to fruit crops totaled nearly $58,000. The storm also partially destroyed a drain elevator and several small bridges,[11] while about two-thirds of a larger railroad bridge linking Halifax and Dartmouth collapsed, causing more than $50,000 in damage.[10] Rough seas beached a few schooners and several Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron vessels in the Halifax area, while hundreds of other small watercraft suffered some degree of damage. Farther east, several other vessels wrecked at Cape Breton Island.[10]

Hurricane Five
Category 2 hurricane (SSHWS)
 
DurationSeptember 16 – September 26
Peak intensity100 mph (155 km/h) (1-min);
≤980 mbar (hPa)

A tropical storm formed in the open Atlantic near 19°N 47°W on 16 September 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 the coast of Nova Scotia. [4]

Hurricane Six
Category 2 hurricane (SSHWS)
 
DurationSeptember 29 – October 5
Peak intensity100 mph (155 km/h) (1-min);
≤981 mbar (hPa)

A tropical storm formed in the open Atlantic near 21°N 54°W on 29 September. It moved northwestward becoming first a Category 1 hurricane then, on October 3, a Category 2 hurricane. At this strength it passed 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 struck Newfoundland before dissipating in the Labrador Sea on October 8.[4]

Tropical Storm Seven
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
DurationOctober 4 – October 8
Peak intensity50 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 dissipating in the open Atlantic on October 8. The storm drove some vessels on the coast of Cuba ashore, and two people drowned in flooding on the island.[2]

Tropical Storm Eight
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
DurationOctober 7 – October 9
Peak intensity45 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. It made landfall in Florida on October 10 and, five days later, in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland where it dissipated.[4]

Hurricane Nine
Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS)
 
DurationOctober 12 – October 20
Peak intensity85 mph (140 km/h) (1-min);
≤992 mbar (hPa)

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

Tropical Storm Ten
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
DurationNovember 3 – November 6
Peak intensity60 mph (95 km/h) (1-min);

On November 3, a tropical storm formed northeast of present-day Nassau, Bahamas. It travelled north, passing east of Bermuda on November 5. The storm never made landfall before dissipating in the open Atlantic off of Nova Scotia on 6 November.[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. (eds.). Hurricanes and Typhoons: Past, Present and Future. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 177–221. ISBN 0-231-12388-4.
  2. 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. "Atlantic hurricane best track (HURDAT version 2)" (Database). United States National Hurricane Center. April 5, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. David Roth (2010-02-04). "Texas Hurricane History" (PDF). National Weather Service. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
  6. "Fearful work of a storm" (PDF). The New York Times. August 21, 1891. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  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. "It Struck a Hurricane". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. September 7, 1891. p. 1. Retrieved September 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. icon of an open green padlock
  9. Taylor 1985, p. 7
  10. "Bridge Was Swept Away". The Boston Globe. September 9, 1891. p. 1. Retrieved September 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. icon of an open green padlock
  11. "Destructive Storm in Nova Scotia". The Huddersfield Daily Chronicle. Huddersfield, England. September 10, 1891. Retrieved September 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. icon of an open green padlock

Bibliography
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