1877 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1877 Atlantic hurricane season featured one of the most devastating tropical cyclones to impact the Dutch Caribbean constituent country of Curaçao. Eight tropical storms are known to have developed, three of which strengthened into hurricanes, while one of those intensified into a major hurricane. 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.

Although meteorologists José Fernández-Partagás and Henry F. Diaz in 1995 did not add any previously undocumented storms to the official hurricane database (HURDAT), they modified the tracks of all but two systems. The Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project also did not add any previously unknown cyclones and made mostly minor adjustments to the paths and intensities of some storms. However, climate researcher Michael Chenoweth authored a reanalysis study, published in 2014, which concluded that the 1877 season featured a total of seven tropical cyclones. This included the removal of the first, sixth, seventh, and eighth systems and the addition of three previously undocumented storms. Chenoweth also proposed some alterations to the track and intensity of each existing storm. However, these changes have yet to be incorporated into HURDAT.

The track of the season's first cyclone begins near the Turks and Caicos Islands on August 1. It dissipated after striking New Brunswick four days later, but not before drowning three people by capsizing a ship. In mid-September, the season's second system inflicted about $500,000 (1877 USD) in damage due to flooding in Texas and Louisiana. Later that month, the fourth cyclone caused over $2 million in damage and at least 84 fatalities, with most of both totals occurring on Curaçao. Most of the other systems impacted land, but with only generally minor effects. Overall, the cyclones of the 1877 season left at least 87 fatalities and more than $2.5 million in damage. __TOC__

Season summary

The Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT) recognizes eight tropical cyclones for the 1877 season. Three storms attained hurricane status, with winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) or greater. The fourth hurricane peaked with maximum sustained winds up to 115 mph (185 km/h) and a minimum atmospheric pressure of , making it a major hurricane. Neither meteorologists José Fernández-Partagás and Henry F. Diaz in 1995 nor the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project added any previously undocumented storms. However, a 2014 study by climate researcher Michael Chenoweth recommended the removal of the first, sixth, seventh, and eight systems from HURDAT, while also arguing for the addition of four new storms, for a net loss of one cyclone. However, Chenoweth's proposals have yet to be incorporated into HURDAT.

The track for the first known storm begins on August 1 near the Turks and Caicos Islands and ends after the cyclone struck New Brunswick four days later. Three people drowned after that cyclone sank the schooner Vanname. September featured four systems, three of which intensified into hurricanes. High tides, heavy rainfall, and strong winds from the season's storm produced almost $500,000 in damage in Texas and Louisiana. Later in September, the season's fourth cyclone caused devastation in areas throughout its path, inflicting more than $2 million in damage and at least 84 deaths, mostly on Curaçao. Two tropical storms are known to have existed in October. The eighth and final cyclone of the season is estimated to have developed by November 28 near Exuma in the Bahamas. Moving northeastward, the system transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on November 29 prior to crossing Atlantic Canada.

Despite an ongoing El Niño, which may have been the strongest on record, the season's activity was reflected with a near normal accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) rating of 73. This value was higher than the previous five seasons but less than three other years that decade. 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

Mimicking the path created in the 1993 reanalysis led by C. J. Neumann, the track for this cyclone begins north of Turks and Caicos Islands on August 1, one day before Florida reported stormy conditions.Fernández-Partagás (1995), p. 10. It tracked along the eastern edge of the Bahamas, before paralleling the East Coast of the United States. By August 2, the tropical storm was nearly a hurricane, though records show that winds never exceeded 70 mph (110 km/h). A schooner known as Vanname recorded sustained winds of on the following day. The cyclone then gradually weakened while heading generally northeast, making landfall near Cape Spencer, New Brunswick, with winds of 60 mph (95 km/h) on August 5. Shortly thereafter, the storm was last noted over the western Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Three people drowned as the Vanname capsized, while seven people survived by clinging to the remnants of the ship until being rescued by the schooner Minnie Reppelier. On land, the storm produced elevated winds in the United States from Florida to New York. Nova Scotia recorded falling barometric pressures. Climate researcher Michael Chenoweth could not confirm the existence of this storm due to potentially unreliable accounts, erring on the side of proposing the removal of this cyclone from HURDAT.

Hurricane Two

Although the Monthly Weather Review reported decreasing atmospheric pressures over the Gulf of Mexico as early as the night of September 12, the track for this storm begins on September 14 about west-northwest of the Yucatán Peninsula. Initially moving northwestward, the cyclone turned northward on September 16, roughly 24 hours before it intensified into a hurricane. Later on September 17, the hurricane curved east-northeastward while just offshore Texas. At 16:00 UTC the next day, the storm made landfall to the southwest of Cocodrie, Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 km/h) and an estimated minimum pressure of . On September 19 the hurricane made another landfall at Fort Walton Beach, Florida. It quickly weakened back to a tropical storm while still in the state of Florida. After emerging into the Atlantic on September 20, the storm was last noted the next day roughly southeast of Cape Fear, North Carolina.

The entire coast of Texas experienced impacts from this storm. Galveston observed sustained winds up to and tides reached up to above mean low water. Additionally, a 24-hour period saw of rainfall, setting the daily rainfall record for September 17. Parts of Galveston became submerged by tides for a few hours and a few unoccupied buildings were severely impacted by the storm. Other locations reporting coastal flooding included Brazos Island and Lynchburg. Extensive crop losses occurred in portions of Louisiana. Many barns, plantations, and crops suffered damage in St. John the Baptist Parish, with about 30% of rice crops ruined. In New Orleans, the hurricane downed numerous trees and fences and destroyed gardens. Damage in Texas and Louisiana alone reached nearly $500,000. Heavy rains fell over Alabama, causing the Black Warrior River to rise significantly.Fernández-Partagás (1995), p. 11. Chenoweth proposed few changes to the track or duration of this storm, but indicated that the cyclone became a hurricane on September 15 and added a tropical depression stage from September 20 onward.

Hurricane Three

Although the steamer Antonio Lopez may have encountered this storm as early as September 11, a track could not be constructed as far back as that date because the location of the ship was not logged.Fernández-Partagás (1995), p. 12. Instead, the Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT) initiates the track as a Category 1 hurricane about northeast of the Lesser Antilles on September 16. Reports from the ship Harley John and an unnamed vessel indicated the cyclone possessed sustained winds of 80 mph (130 km/h). The hurricane moved generally northwestward for a few days until turning northward on September 20. Curving northeastward on the following day, the cyclone weakened to a tropical storm on September 22 before being last noted several hours later just offshore Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula.

In Nova Scotia, St. Paul Island recorded a sustained wind speed of . Canso reportedly experienced its worst gale in years. The ship Helene became stranded at St. Esprit, while the storm beached the steamship Rowland at Holyrood, Newfoundland. Chenoweth proposed significant changes to the storm's track and duration, showing a long-lived cyclone that developed east of the Capo Verde Islands on September 3. After crossing through the islands and moving generally westward, the system meandered around the central and north Atlantic before becoming extratropical well east of Newfoundland on September 24.

Hurricane Four

On September 21, a tropical storm was first observed east of Grenada and Saint Vincent.Fernández-Partagás (1995), p. 13. Moving westward at a low latitude, the cyclone intensified into a hurricane early the next day while moving between Grenada and Tobago. The storm then remained close to the coast of South America while strengthening, becoming a Category 2 hurricane on the present-day Saffir–Simpson scale on September 23. Early on the next day, the system curved west-northwestward before striking Venezuela's Paraguaná Peninsula and Colombia's Guajira Peninsula. The cyclone turned northwestward by September 26, passing near the northeast tip of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. Upon reaching the central Gulf of Mexico, the storm began trekking to the north-northeast on October 1 and then to the northeast by the next day.

Early on October 3, the system intensified into a Category 3 hurricane, shortly before making landfall near present-day Mexico Beach, Florida, with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) and a minimum pressure of . The storm rapidly weakened after moving inland, falling to tropical storm intensity over south-central Georgia several hours later. While passing over North Carolina on October 4, the system transitioned into an extratropical cyclone, which continued northeastward until dissipating offshore Nova Scotia on the next day. Chenoweth's study extends the track of this storm back to the central Atlantic on September 16. Following a similar path through the eastern and central Caribbean, Chenoweth proposed a major hurricane from September 23 to September 27. Unlike in HURDAT, however, Chenoweth also suggested that the cyclone crossed part of Central America and the Gulf of Honduras before striking the Yucatán Peninsula and then reaching the Gulf of Mexico.