Great Hurricane of 1780

[Ptarmigan]

This hurricane was much worse than Katrina in terms of loss of life. Hot dry Saharan air mixes with warm moist air of the jungles of Africa interact sometimes in mid-August, which a cluster of thunderstorms forms and moves off to the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of western Africa.

This cluster of thunderstorm in early October, a dry and hot air clashes with warm and moist air over Africa, which thunderstorms form. The thunderstorm moves over Atlantic Ocean. The thunderstorm is over warm water, which allows it to organize. The cluster of thunderstorm becomes a tropical depression, that later on tropical storm. The tropical storm undergoes rapid development and becomes a hurricane. The hurricane grows and gets larger. It becomes a major hurricane right before it makes landfall on Barbados on October 9th. It is a monster hurricane, likely had winds between 160 to 200 mph with gusts as high as 250 mph. Hurricane force winds extended as far as 150 miles from the eye. Once it passes Barbados, it makes landfall Martinique, Saint Lucia, and Sint Eustatius between October 10 to 12. The hurricane continues onto Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic on October 13 to 14. Afterwards, the hurricane moves north into the Atlantic. It is reported that Florida had high tides and strong winds. The hurricane zips towards Newfoundland Canada as an extratropical system.

The hurricane claimed at least 22,000 lives. The hurricane wind was so strong that one cannot hear their own voice, which would suggest it was a strong hurricane of winds of 200 mph. Tree bark were ripped off of trees. 4,500 people died in Barbados and many ships and houses were destroyed. The island of Martinique had storm surge as high as 25 feet. A large French fleet used in the American Revolution War were washed by the monster waves, claiming about 4,000 lives. 9,000 people died in Martinique alone. Monster storm surge flooded Sint Eustatius, which claimed a further 4,000 to 5,000 lives. To make matters worse, there was an earthqauke which during the hurricane. The earthquake helped weaken structures, in which the hurricane destroyed the building. The hurricane severely damaged Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.

The hurricane likely had an impact on the American Revolution. Many ships were lost in the Caribbean due to the hurricane. In addition, many soldiers were killed in the hurricane. Also, 1780 was a deadly year. There were two other hurricanes in October, one hit Jamaica and Cuba, claiming over 1,100 lives on October 5. The other hurricane hit the eastern part of Gulf of Mexico, claiming 2,000 lives between October 17 to 21. 25,000 people died in October of 1780. In fact 1780 was one of the few years that had more than one hurricane claim more than 1,000 lives, 1893 and 2005. The Great Hurricane of 1780 remains the deadliest Atlantic hurricane. It claimed more lives than Hurricane Mitch and Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900.

NHC-The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1996
Wikipedia-1780-1789 Atlantic hurricane seasons
NWS-San Juan-Notes on the Tropical Cyclones of Puerto Rico
NOAA-A Re-assessment of Historical Atlantic Basin Tropical Cyclone Activity, 1700-1855
NOAA-Chronological Listing of Tropical Cyclones affecting North Florida and Coastal Georgia 1565-1899
NEMO remembers the great hurricane of 1780
Science Daily-Great Hurricane of 1780
Wikipedia-Great Hurricane of 1780

[Ptarmigan]

You are right Ed. Mods, can you please move this to the Hurricane Section.

[srainhoutx]

You are right Ed. Mods, can you please move this to the Hurricane Section.

Done.

[Paul]

PT can you look up the most powerful hurricane to ever hit Galveston / Houston. When I say that I mean sustained winds / gusts felt in Metro Houston not loss of life ie 1900......I remember our old forum member EWG was talking about 120mph winds with one storm. I am curoius to know.....We havent had a major since Alicia but she was weaker than Ike as far as inland winds...


thanks in advance STATS GUY.....I take credit for your promotion BTW....

[Ptarmigan]

Your welcome Paul. As for major hurricane force sustained winds in Houston, that is probably unlikely to happen as WXMan57 points out because we are further inland.

http://z.khou.com/forums/viewtopic.php? ... icane#1061

As for major hurricane force wind gusts, that has happened before. Here are the strongest hurricanes to hit the Houston area. Keep in mind that Houston was largely not developed and populated at the time. This is based on Best Track from 1870-2010.

Great Galveston Hurricane-110 Knots
July 1909 Hurricane-105 Knots
1915 Galveston Hurricane-115 Knots
Freeport Hurricane of 1932-125 Knots
October 1949 Hurricane-115 Knots
September 1941 Hurricane-100 Knots (It was re-analyzed recently)
Alicia-100 Knots

The Great Galveston Hurricane made landfall as a Category 3 with 125 mph winds. I recall reading that Houston mostly recorded tropical storm to hurricane force winds, no reports of major hurricane force winds. Houston was not heavily populated at the time, which means less weather stations and co-ops.
http://web.archive.org/web/200707112023 ... /1900s.htm
For some reason, the Houston NWS deleted the SE Texas Hurricane climatology section.

Houston recorded 80 mph winds from the 1915 Hurricane. Once again, major hurricane force winds likely happened and Houston was not heavily populated at the time, which means less weather stations and co-ops.
http://web.archive.org/web/200503102249 ... /1910s.htm

Houston recorded 60 mph from the 1932 Freeport Hurricane. It was a small hurricane that did 30-40 mile swath of damage.
http://web.archive.org/web/200503102302 ... /1930s.htm

Houston recorded 77 mph winds in the September 1941 hurricane. Once again, major hurricane force winds likely happened, as it was a large hurricane.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bK ... 09,5353456
http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/at1941.asp
http://web.archive.org/web/200503102306 ... /1940s.htm

Houston recorded 90 mph winds in the October 1949 hurricane. However, major hurricane force winds were very likely, but went unrecorded due to not many weather stations at the time because Houston was not developed as it is today.
http://drgeorgepc.com/Hurricane1949Galveston.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200503102306 ... /1940s.htm

Houston mostly received strong tropical storm to hurricane force winds from Alicia.
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Storm_page ... nd_mph.pdf
http://web.archive.org/web/200610092057 ... /1980s.htm

Major hurricanes that have made landfall mainly occurred when Houston was less populated than it was today. It is very likely major hurricane force winds were felt in Houston in those hurricanes, but there were not as many weather stations to record them unlike today.