1860–1869 Atlantic hurricane seasons

1860 Atlantic hurricane season

Infobox hurricane season full|name=1860 Atlantic hurricane season
basin=Atlantic hurricane
first storm formed=August 8, 1860
last storm dissipated=October 24, 1860
strongest storm=#1 - 110 knots (130 mph)
total storms=7
major storms=1
total da

total fatalities=47+
five seasons=1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, 18621. In the northeastern Gulf of Mexico a tropical storm formed on August 8. It strengthened to a hurricane the next day while moving westward. As it became a major hurricane on the 11th, it turned more northerly, striking the southeastern Louisiana coast on the 12th. It hit Mississippi the next day, and weakened to a tropical storm over Alabama. The storm continued eastward, reaching the Atlantic Ocean on the 14th. The storm restrengthened to a 60 mph tropical storm, and was last seen on the 16th. The hurricane caused 47 deaths in Louisiana.

4. A Category 2 hurricane moved west-northwestward across the Gulf of Mexico, first reported on September 11. It turned northeastward, hitting southeastern Louisiana on the 15th, followed by a southern Mississippi landfall later that day. The storm dissipated over western Alabama, after drowning several people in Louisiana and causing $1 million in damage.

6. Louisiana wasn't done yet. A tropical storm first was seen on September 30 north of the Yucatán Peninsula. It moved generally northward, strengthening to a Category 2 hurricane before hitting the south central coast of Louisiana on October 2. It dissipated over northern Mississippi the next day. When it hit hit Louisiana, following 2 earlier hurricanes, it made 1860 the season with the most landfalling Louisiana hurricanes on record, but some seasons since then, like 2005, tied this.

1861 Atlantic hurricane season

Infobox hurricane season full|name=1861 Atlantic hurricane season
basin=Atlantic hurricane
first storm formed=July 6, 1861
last storm dissipated=November 3, 1861
strongest storm=#1, 3 - 90 knots (105 mph)
total storms=8
major storms=0
total da

total fatalities=33
five seasons=1859, 1860, 1861, 1862, 18638. A late season tropical storm first appeared in the southeast Gulf of Mexico on November 1. It moved quickly northeastward, reaching hurricane strength on the 2nd. It crossed the Outer Banks that day, weakening to a tropical storm that night. It continued its direction, making landfall on Massachusetts on the 3rd. It dissipated that day, after causing 33 casualties. This is known as the "Expedition Hurricane", named after the expedition by "the largest fleet of warships and transports ever assembled". This was a Union fleet trying to attack the Confederacy, occurring during the American Civil War.

1862 Atlantic hurricane season

Infobox hurricane season full|name=1862 Atlantic hurricane season
basin=Atlantic hurricane
first storm formed=June 15, 1862
last storm dissipated=November 25, 1862
strongest storm=#2, 3 - 90 knots (105 mph)
total storms=6
major storms=0
total da

total fatalities=None
five seasons=1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864While there were 6 storms this season, only one affected any landmass as a tropical system; a tropical storm hitting the Lesser Antilles.

1863 Atlantic hurricane season

Infobox hurricane season full|name=1863 Atlantic hurricane season
basin=Atlantic hurricane
first storm formed=August 8, 1863
last storm dissipated=September 30, 1863
strongest storm=#1, 2, 3, 4 - 90 knots (105 mph)
total storms=9
major storms=0
total da

total fatalities=80
five seasons=1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 18653. A hurricane was first seen on August 19 in the western Atlantic. It turned northwestward, causing heavy rains and damage to the Outer Banks but remaining offshore. It turned northeastward, hitting the south coast of Nova Scotia before losing its tropical characteristics on the 23rd. It caused 80 deaths.

Other Storms

In addition, a possible tropical system existed on May 26, causing damage and 37 deaths in the northeast Gulf of Mexico.

1864 Atlantic hurricane season

Infobox hurricane season full|name=1864 Atlantic hurricane season
basin=Atlantic hurricane
first storm formed=July 16, 1864
last storm dissipated=October 24, 1864
strongest storm=#1, 3, 5 - 70 knots (80 mph)
total storms=5
major storms=0
total da

total fatalities=None
five seasons=1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, 1866While there were 5 storms this season, only one affected any landmass as a tropical system; a hurricane hitting Belize.

1865 Atlantic hurricane season

Infobox hurricane season full|name=1865 Atlantic hurricane season
basin=Atlantic hurricane
first storm formed=May 30, 1865
last storm dissipated=October 25, 1865
strongest storm=#4, 7 - 90 knots (105 mph)
total storms=7
major storms=0
total da

total fatalities=25
five seasons=1863, 1864, 1865, 1866, 18674. A hurricane was first observed east of the Lesser Antilles on September 6. It moved across the islands, maintaining its 100 mph (160 km/h) strength across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. While in the Gulf, it turned more northward, hitting southwestern Louisiana. It caused 25 deaths.

1866 Atlantic hurricane season

Infobox hurricane season full|name=1866 Atlantic hurricane season
basin=Atlantic hurricane
first storm formed=July 11, 1866
last storm dissipated=October 30, 1866
strongest storm=#6 - 120 knots (140 mph)
total storms=7
major storms=1
total da

total fatalities=387
five seasons=1864, 1865, 1866, 1867, 18686. A classical Cape Verde-type hurricane was first observed on September 24 off the coast of Africa. It headed west-northwestward, reaching major hurricane strength north of the Lesser Antilles on the 29th. As it neared the Bahamas it strengthened to a 140 mph Category 4 hurricane, causing widespread damage across the islands. It recurved out to sea without affecting any other landmasses. The last report on the system was on October 5, after resulting in 387 casualties, with 250 from the steamer "Evening Star" (from Sinking of the Titanic). It is very possible that the hurricane was stronger while over open waters in the Atlantic, but the meteorological records from the 1800s and early 20th century were very sparse and also contributed to the reduced number of tropical cyclones in the hurricane season archives.

1867 Atlantic hurricane season

Infobox hurricane season full|name=1867 Atlantic hurricane season
basin=Atlantic hurricane
first storm formed=June 21, 1867
last storm dissipated=October 31, 1867
strongest storm=#9 - 100 knots (115 mph)
total storms=9
major storms=1
total da

total fatalities=811+
five seasons=1865, 1866, 1867, 1868, 18697. A hurricane was first detected in the western Gulf of Mexico on October 2. It followed a path similar to 1837 Racer's Storm: paralleling the Texas coast, remaining offshore, and hitting southern Louisiana. It continued eastward, hitting Florida as a Category 1, and moving out to sea on the 9th. It caused around a million dollars in damage, with "many lives lost".

9. On October 27, a tropical storm was first detected east of the northern Lesser Antilles. It moved westward, becoming a hurricane on the 28th, and a major hurricane on the 29th. It reached its peak of 125 mph just before hitting St. Thomas, where roughly 50 ships were driven ashore or wrecked (from Sinking of the Titanic). It weakened slightly prior to its Puerto Rico landfall on the 29th, decreasing its winds further over the island. It hit Hispanola on the 30th, and dissipated that day over the island's high mountains. The hurricane caused 811 deaths.

1868 Atlantic hurricane season

Infobox hurricane season full|name=1868 Atlantic hurricane season
basin=Atlantic hurricane
first storm formed=September 3, 1868
last storm dissipated=October 17, 1868
strongest storm=#1, 3, 4 - 90 knots (100 mph)
total storms=4
major storms=0
total da

total fatalities=None
five seasons=1866, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870While there were 4 storms this season, only one affected any landmass: a tropical storm that caused structural damage in southeastern Louisiana in October.

1869 Atlantic hurricane season

Infobox hurricane season full|name=1869 Atlantic hurricane season
basin=Atlantic hurricane
first storm formed=August 12, 1869
last storm dissipated=October 5, 1869
strongest storm=#6 - 100 knots (115 mph)
total storms=10
major storms=1
total da

total fatalities=137
five seasons=1867, 1868, 1869, 1870, 18712. A Category 2 hurricane moved across the Gulf of Mexico, hitting the lower Texas coast on August 17. Most of the damage that occurred came from storm surge.

6. A hurricane was first observed northeast of the Bahamas on September 7. It strengthened to a Category 3 on the 8th, and it retained that intensity until its Rhode Island landfall on the 9th. It dissipated over northern Maine that night. The hurricane caused a great deal of damage in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Maine, but only caused one reported death.

10. On October 4, a hurricane was first observed east of South Carolina. It moved rapidly northeastward, hitting Cape Cod on the 5th and Maine later that day. It turned northeastward, dissipating over northern New Brunswick that night. The storm caused widespread damage, as well as 37 deaths.

The storm is known as the Saxby Gale because of a prediction by Stephen Martin Saxby on December 25, 1868. However, he gave no mention of the location of the storm. Another person, Frederick Allison, gave detail of where and when it was going to hit. Nonetheless, when the storm actually happened, more remembered Saxby's prediction.

See also

* List of tropical cyclones
* List of Atlantic hurricane seasons

References

Books

Logan Marshall. Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters. The Vision Forum, Inc.: San Antonio, 2001.

External links

* http://www.magma.ca/~jdreid/saxby_gale.htm
* http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastdeadlyapp1.shtml?