The 1879 Atlantic hurricane season was the first season known to have featured two or more major hurricanes making landfall in the United States. In 1879, there were two tropical storms, four hurricanes, and two major hurricanes in the Atlantic basin. 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 1879 cyclones, the first system was first documented by meteorologists José Fernández-Partagás and Henry F. Diaz in 1995. They also proposed large changes to the known tracks of the second, third, seventh, and eighth cyclones. Later, the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project in the early 21st century determined that one storm was not a tropical cyclone at all and removed it from the official hurricane database (HURDAT), but they did not add any new systems and only made a major adjustment to the track of the second storm. However, climate researcher Michael Chenoweth authored a reanalysis study, published in 2014, which concluded that the 1879 season featured a total of thirteen tropical cyclones. This included the removal of the seventh and eighth systems and the addition of seven previously undocumented storms. Chenoweth also proposed some alterations to the track and intensity of each storm, but these changes have yet to be incorporated into HURDAT.
The season's first known system existed by August 9, based on weather observations over the Southeastern United States. Although this storm did not make landfall, two people presumably drowned after being swept overboard the Prince Louis. Thereafter, three consecutive known tropical cyclones eventually struck the United States at hurricane intensity. The first of the three caused 54 or more deaths, including 46 in the United States and at least 8 in the Lesser Antilles. Two people drowned offshore Louisiana due to the third cyclone as it struck Texas, while the fourth storm of the season, which made landfall in Louisiana, caused one fatality and about $500,000 (1879 USD) in damage. About a month passed before the fifth system was first detected on October 3 over the southwestern Caribbean Sea. Although this cyclone left only minor impacts, the following storm resulted in floods on Jamaica that killed 13 people. The seventh and eighth cyclones caused an unknown number of deaths after capsizing ships and both later impacted Atlantic Canada, with two fatalities due to the former in Nova Scotia. On November 18, the eighth system became extratropical to the southeast of New England, ending seasonal activity.
Season summary
The Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT) recognizes eight tropical cyclones for the 1879 season. Six storms attained hurricane status, with maximum sustained winds of 74 mph (119 km/h) or greater, while two of those became major hurricanes, with sustained winds exceeding . Both major hurricanes struck Louisiana. Consequently, 1879 became the first season with at least two cyclones striking the United States at that intensity. The season's fourth cyclone became the most intense, peaking as a Category 3 hurricane on the present-day Saffir–Simpson scale with winds of 125 mph (205 km/h) and a minimum atmospheric pressure of . In their 1995 reanalysis, meteorologists José Fernández-Partagás and Henry F. Diaz first documented the season's first storm and significantly revised the tracks of the second, third, seventh, and eighth cyclones. Later, the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project in the early 21st century determined that one storm instead resembled a norther and located no evidence of the storm's existence other than a track map constructed by professor Edward B. Garriott in 1900, leading to its removal from HURDAT. The Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project did not add any new systems and only made a major adjustment to the track of the season's second storm. However, climate researcher Michael Chenoweth authored a reanalysis study, published in 2014, which concluded that the 1879 season featured a total of 13 tropical cyclones. This included the removal of the seventh and eighth systems and the addition of seven previously undocumented storms, for a net gain of five cyclones. Chenoweth also proposed some alterations to the track and intensity of each existing storm. However, these changes have yet to be incorporated into HURDAT.
Known seasonal activity began on August 9, when HURDAT initiated the track of the first system offshore South Carolina. Although it did not make landfall, the storm presumably drowned two sailors after sweeping off the ship Prince Louis. August featured four cyclones overall, all of which intensified into a hurricane. The second of the four produced flooding in the Lesser Antilles and high winds and storm surge along the East Coast of the United States, particularly in North Carolina and Virginia after making landfall in North Carolina as a Category 3 hurricane. This storm caused at least 54 fatalities. The third and fourth cyclone both severely impacted Louisiana, causing two and one fatalities respectively, while the former also left destruction in Texas and the latter inflicted about $500,000 in damage in Louisiana. After the fourth cyclone dissipated over Alabama on September 2, no further activity is known to have occurred until October 3, when a storm was first observed over the southwestern Caribbean Sea. Clipping western Cuba and striking the United States at tropical storm intensity, the cyclone caused little impact on land. The following storm, the season's sixth, dropped heavy rainfall on Jamaica, causing a flood that killed 13 people. In late October, the seventh cyclone of the season drowned all but two occupants of the schooner Sallie in the Gulf of Mexico before striking Florida at tropical storm intensity. The storm later affected Atlantic Canada, causing two deaths in Nova Scotia. The eighth and final system is known to have existed from November 18 to November 20, when it transitioned into an extratropical cyclone southeast of New England.
The season's activity was reflected with an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) rating of 64, the third-lowest total of the decade, behind only 1876 and 1874. 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
Hurricane One
With The New York Times reporting rainy conditions in the Southeastern United States and the Monthly Weather Review noting that a low-pressure area probably existed by August 9,Fernández-Partagás (1995), p. 44. the Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT) begins the track of this cyclone about southeast of Charleston, South Carolina. Moving northeastward, the storm is estimated to have intensified into a hurricane by August 11 and peaked with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), based on accounts from nearby ships. It weakened to a tropical storm while paralleling the coast of Nova Scotia on August 12 and was last noted several hours later while situated about south-southwest of St. Shott's, Newfoundland. Climate scientist Michael Chenoweth proposed that this system developed as a tropical depression and moved slower than shown in HURDAT. Rough seas generated by the hurricane swept two sailors off the ship Prince Louis, both of whom were presumed to have drowned.
Hurricane Two
The Great Beaufort Hurricane of 1879 An unnamed vessel reported stormy conditions and rapidly falling barometric pressures northeast of the Lesser Antilles on August 13.Fernández-Partagás (1995), p. 45. With the track initiated about east-northeast of Barbuda, the cyclone headed westward, passing north of the Lesser Antilles. By August 15, the storm began turning northwestward, paralleling the Dominican Republic but then striking Turks and Caicos Islands early the next day. After crossing the far southeastern Bahamas, the cyclone intensified into a hurricane on August 16. Turning northeastward on August 18, the system intensified into a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h), and made landfall near Morehead City, North Carolina, at 12:00 UTC. A 1989 reanalysis estimated that the hurricane possessed a barometric pressure of , based on intense winds near the point of landfall. After crossing the state, the storm moved into the northwestern Atlantic and moved ashore near Falmouth, Massachusetts, as a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h) early on August 19. The hurricane then weakened to a tropical storm and crossed Atlantic Canada between that day and the following, striking Nova Scotia and Newfoundland before being last noted just east of the latter on August 20.
Chenoweth's reanalysis study argued that this storm actually formed east of the Windward Islands on August 12, crossing Martinique, the eastern Caribbean, and Puerto Rico before following a path similar to that shown in HURDAT. Heavy rains fell over the Lesser Antilles, with flooding and landslides killing at least one person on Barbados and seven on Martinique. The latter also reported damage to bridges and homes, with some being completely carried away. Strong winds impacted many places in coastal North Carolina. Cape Lookout recorded wind gusts of before the anemometer cups blew away; wind gusts there are estimated to have reached . The Beaufort–Morehead City area likely experienced the worst impacts, where the hurricane destroyed all wharves, about of railroad, and two hotels and toppled the chimneys of most homes. Many vessels wrecked near Beaufort and at least one more near Cape Hatteras. The cyclone also destroyed anemometers at Hatteras, Fort Macon, Kitty Hawk, and Portsmouth in North Carolina and Cape Henry in Virginia, with wind speeds estimated at or more. A storm surge up to high was seen at Norfolk, Virginia. Heavy rains in the city caused floodwaters to inundate wharves, streets, and the lower floors of buildings, while high winds deroofed homes and uprooted many trees. Tides reached then-highest known heights in Portsmouth, flooding streets and wrecking several vessels. Strong winds impacted many areas farther north, with Atlantic City and Barnegat in New Jersey recording sustained winds of . The hurricane was responsible for 46 deaths in the United States, and sank more than 100 large vessels across the country's east coast.Monthly Weather Review (August 1879), p. 7. Later, the cyclone wrecked or beached at least three vessels in Nova Scotia.
Hurricane Three