1874 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1874 Atlantic hurricane season featured the first hurricane to be recorded on a weather map by the United States Signal Service. It was a relatively inactive season, in which seven tropical cyclones developed. Four storms intensified into hurricanes, but none attained major hurricane status. However, in the absence of modern satellite and other remote-sensing technologies, only storms that affected populated land areas or encountered ships at sea were recorded, so the actual total could be higher. An undercount bias of zero to six tropical cyclones per year between 1851 and 1885 and zero to four per year between 1886 and 1910 has been estimated.
Of the known cyclones, large alterations were made to the tracks of the third and seventh systems in 1995 by José Fernández-Partagás and Henry Díaz, who also proposed smaller changes to the known track of the sixth system. Neither Fernández-Partagás and Díaz nor the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project introduced any previously undocumented tropical cyclones during their reanalyses of the 1874 season. Another reanalysis study, authored by climate researcher Michael Chenoweth and published in 2014, theorizes that seven cyclones formed. Chenoweth proposes the removal of the first and fifth storms from the official hurricane database, as well as the addition of two new storms. However, these changes have yet to be incorporated into HURDAT.
The first storm of the season was initially observed over the eastern Gulf of Mexico on July 2. Most of the systems directly impacted land. A tropical storm that developed in the Bay of Campeche during the month of September killed one person and caused significant damage in northeastern Mexico and south Texas after striking Tamaulipas and moving northward. The sixth storm of the season, and also the third hurricane, struck Florida as a Category 1 hurricane before making a second landfall in South Carolina at the same intensity in late September. This cyclone inflicted at least $100,000 in damage to rice crops in the Savannah area of Georgia alone. The seventh, final, and strongest system of the season developed in the Caribbean Sea on October 31, and made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 2 hurricane, causing at least five fatalities and $75,000 in damage there. After striking eastern Cuba and the Bahamas as a tropical storm, the storm was last sighted to the north of the latter on November 4, as a Category 1 hurricane.
Season summary
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The Atlantic hurricane database officially recognizes seven tropical cyclones from the 1874 season. Four storms attained hurricane status, with winds of or greater. However, none of those intensified into a major hurricane. No previously undocumented cyclones were added by meteorologists José Fernández-Partagás and Henry Díaz in 1995 or by the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project. A 2014 study by climate researcher Michael Chenoweth also did not propose a net gain or loss of the number of storms in 1874 but did recommend the removal of the season's first and fifth systems. The study argued for significant changes to the season's fourth system, suggesting that it strengthened into a Category 3 major hurricane. Chenoweth's study utilizes a more extensive collection of newspapers and ship logs, as well as late 19th century weather maps for the first time, in comparison to previous reanalysis projects. These changes are yet to be incorporated into HURDAT.
The first storm of the season was a tropical storm that formed in the Gulf of Mexico during the month of July. The system made landfall near Galveston, Texas, on July 5. Two systems are known to have developed in August, the first of which struck Newfoundland as a tropical storm and the second also made landfall there but as an extratropical cyclone. Both storms peaked as a Category 1 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson scale. In early September, another tropical system developed in the Bay of Campeche and made landfall in northeast Mexico with winds up to 60 mph, causing significant damage there and in south Texas as well as one fatality in the latter. September featured two other systems, including the season's sixth cyclone, which crossed the Yucatán Peninsula and then made two landfalls at hurricane intensity in the United States, first in Florida and then in South Carolina. About $100,000 in damage to rice crops occurred in Georgia's Savannah area alone. This was the first hurricane to ever be shown on a weather map. The seventh, final, and strongest hurricane of the season existed over the southwestern Caribbean Sea by October 31. Peaking as a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, the cyclone struck Jamaica at this intensity. Five fatalities and severe damage occurred in parts of Jamaica, reaching $75,000 in the Kingston area alone. After crossing eastern Cuba and the Bahamas as a tropical storm, the system re-strengthened into a hurricane while north of the Bahamas, where it was last sighted on November 4.
The season's activity was reflected with an accumulated cyclone energy rating of 47, the lowest total of the decade, despite featuring more storms than 1872, 1873, 1875, and 1876. ACE is a metric used to express the energy used by a tropical cyclone during its lifetime. Therefore, a storm with a longer duration will have higher values of ACE. It is only calculated at six-hour increments in which specific tropical and subtropical systems are either at or above sustained wind speeds of, which is the threshold for tropical storm intensity. Thus, tropical depressions are not included here.
Systems
Tropical Storm One
Based on the Monthly Weather Review, a tropical storm was first noted over the east-central Gulf of Mexico on July 2 about west-southwest of present-day Naples, Florida. Moving westward, the tropical storm steadily strengthened to reach a peak intensity of 60 mph on July 3. The system later made landfall near Port O'Connor, Texas, on July 5, likely around the same intensity, and then rapidly dissipated shortly after moving inland that same day. In the vicinity of Indianola, Texas, the storm blew down fledgling settlements and sank ships, seriously hindering coastal trade. Climate researcher Michael Chenoweth proposed the removal of this storm in a 2014 study, noting there was "No evidence in land-based reports or from ships".Hurricane Two
Although the no observations of this system exist prior to August 5, a 1993 reanalysis by C. J. Neumann and others began the track of cyclone two days earlier, about northeast of the Lesser Antilles. Slowly gaining strength, the system reached hurricane status and peaked with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph while located just northeast of the island of Bermuda on August 5, based on a ship recording sustained winds of. Late on August 6, the storm turned northeastward as it approached Atlantic Canada. The system then weakened back to a tropical storm on August 7, and made landfall on Newfoundland the same day, with sustained winds up to. It dissipated shortly afterwards. Chenoweth theorized that this system developed as a subtropical storm offshore the Mid-Atlantic and moved mostly northeastward. The storm transitioned into a tropical storm but failed to attain hurricane status prior to becoming extratropical late on August 6, almost 24 hours before reaching Newfoundland.Hurricane Three
The bark Colchaqua encountered this storm nearly west of the Capo Verde Islands on August 29, recording sustained winds of. Moving towards the west-northwest, the storm steadily gained strength, and reached hurricane strength early on September 2. The storm peaked its peak intensity of September 6 with sustained winds of 90 mph and a minimum atmospheric pressure of, the former recorded by the ship Swallow and the latter by the ship State of Virginia. Moving just to the west of Bermuda, the cyclone began to turn more northerly, and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone later on September 7. By the following day, the system made landfall in Newfoundland as an extratropical system. On Bermuda, the hurricane generated huge swells and strong winds, causing sea spray that defoliated plants across the territory. Approximately of rain fell in Halifax, Nova Scotia, during a 3.5 hour-period as a result of the storm. The 2014 reanalysis study by Chenoweth concludes that this storm formed on September 2 and intensified more than HURDAT suggests, peaking as a strong Category 2 hurricane.Tropical Storm Four
On September 2, a tropical storm developed in the Bay of Campeche. Moving generally towards the west-northwest, the storm reached a peak intensity of 60 mph on September 4, while approaching northeastern Mexico. Shortly thereafter, the cyclone made landfall in northern Tamaulipas and weakened into a tropical depression on September 5, several hours after crossing into Texas. Moving northward through the state, the storm dissipated on September 7, while located to the southwest of the Dallas–Fort Worth area. Chenoweth argued that this system developed as a tropical depression near the central Gulf of Mexico on September 1 and became much more intense, reaching Category 3 intensity on September 5. The system struck south Texas later that day.In Mexico, the storm demolished some homes and all huts along the coast in Bagdad. Telegraph wires in the town were also almost completely destroyed. Farther inland, towns in Nuevo León reported flooding, with several bridges swept away in the vicinity of Cerralvo. The system generated rough seas along the coast of Texas, especially in Corpus Christi. Waves destroyed bathhouses and wharves and beached several schooners, some of which collided with homes and trees. Abnormally high tides also destroyed salt lakes on Padre Island, ending a salt boom. The storm was responsible for destroying the Brazos Santiago lighthouse and causing one fatality. The town of Indianola observed sustained winds of.
Tropical Storm Five
Based on a combination of the tracks created by Ivan Ray Tannehill in 1938 and a reanalysis led by C. J. Neumann in 1993, HURDAT records the beginning of the path of a tropical storm about north of Turks and Caicos Islands on September 8. Moving towards the west-northwest, the system is estimated to maintained sustained winds of 60 mph as it passed between North Carolina and Bermuda. Turning towards the northeast, it was last observed to the south of Newfoundland on September 11. Chenoweth argued for the removal of this cyclone from HURDAT, noting there was "No evidence in land-based reports or from ships". A ship known as Titan recorded sustained winds of September 12. However, it could not be determined if the Titan actually encountered the storm, given that the location was not logged.Hurricane Six
On September 25, a tropical storm was first noted in the western Caribbean, north of Honduras. Upon striking the Yucatán Peninsula shortly afterwards, the storm briefly weakened into a tropical depression. However, when the system emerged into the Gulf of Mexico, it attained tropical storm status once again. Steadily gaining strength, the cyclone reached hurricane status on September 28, after reports from the ship Emma D. Finney indicated such. Moving north-northeastward, the storm made landfall near Cedar Key, Florida several hours later, with an estimated minimum central pressure of. The system briefly fell to tropical storm status over the state, but strengthened into a hurricane again after exiting near Jacksonville and crossing the Gulf Stream. It hit South Carolina as a hurricane that same day, with the center passing just east of Charleston and west of Wilmington. The storm lost hurricane status again over eastern North Carolina. Thereafter, the system crossed the northeastern United States, becoming extratropical on September 30 over Maine. On October 1, it dissipated over eastern Canada.Few reports of damage in Florida exist. Jacksonville observed sustained winds of. Stronger winds impacted coastal Georgia, with a sustained wind speed of at the Tybee Island Lighthouse. Tides generated by the storm inundated portions of the island with up to of water. Heavy rainfall in the Savannah area raised the height of the river to its highest height in 20 years and flooded many rice plantations, causing about $100,000 in damage. Coastal flooding also occurred in South Carolina, including in Charleston, where parts of The Battery were swept away. In North Carolina, Virginia, and several other states to the north, there were reports of trees being brought down, and shipping disrupted. At Smithville several houses, warehouses, telegraph lines and railroad bridges were destroyed. Additionally, about 33% of rice crops along the Cape Fear River were damaged. This was also the first hurricane ever to be recorded on a weather map by the U.S. Weather Bureau. The reanalysis study authored by Chenoweth proposed few changes to this system compared to HURDAT, other than some small eastward and westward along different sections of the track and a slightly earlier extratropical transition.
Hurricane Seven
The track for this storm begins about northwest of Barranquilla, Colombia, on October 31, one day before Jamaica first observed sustained hurricane-force winds. Moving towards the east-northeast, the storm attained hurricane status on November 1, while situated just south of Jamaica. Upon making landfall in the island nation near Rocky Pointon November 2, the storm strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph winds. After crossing Jamaica, the system weakened into a Category 1 hurricane and then further into a tropical storm prior to making landfall in eastern Cuba late on November 2. The system emerged in the Bahamas on the next day, and strengthened into a hurricane once again early on November 4. Several hours later, the hurricane was last sighted to the northeast of the Bahamas.Jamaica experienced its worst hurricane in more than 40 years. Kingston reported sustained winds of. According to a telegraph from the city, the hurricane wrecked or destroyed 17 vessels. Heavy rains led to landslides and floods that swept away some bridges and animals throughout the island, while winds toppled many trees and damaged crops, especially plantains, yam, sugar cane, and coffee. The hurricane also severely damaged or destroyed a number of homes. At least five deaths occurred and damage in the Kingston area alone reached $75,000. Chenoweth's study begins the track of this storm to the southeast of Jamaica. The storm instead moves northwestward across the island and then curved north-northeastward thereafter, striking Cuba north of Manzanillo. Thereafter, the cyclone treks slightly farther west over the Bahamas.