Galveston, Texas, 1900
This killer weather system was first detected over the tropical Atlantic on Aug. 27. While the history of the track and intensity is not fully known, the system reached Cuba as a tropical storm on Sept. 3 and moved into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 5.
A general west-northwestward motion occurred over the Gulf accompanied by rapid intensification. By the time the storm reached the Texas coast south of Galveston late on Sept. 8, it was a Category 4 hurricane. After landfall, the cyclone turned northward through the Great Plains. It became extratropical and turned east-northeastward on Sept. 11, passing across the Great Lakes, New England, and southeastern Canada. It was last spotted over the north Atlantic on Sept. 15.
This hurricane was the deadliest weather disaster in United States history. Storm tides of 8 to 15 feet inundated the whole of Galveston Island, as well as other portions of the nearby Texas coast. These tides were largely responsible for the 8,000 deaths (estimates range from 6,000 to 12,000) attributed to the storm. The damage to property was estimated at $30 million.
Great Miami hurricane 1926
 | The "Great Miami" Hurricane was first spotted as a tropical wave located 1,000 miles east of the Lesser Antilles on Sept. 11. The system moved quickly westward and intensified to hurricane strength as it moved to the north of Puerto Rico on Sept. 15. Winds were reported to be nearly 150 mph as the hurricane passed over the Turks Islands on Sept. 16 and through the Bahamas on Sept. 17. |
Little in the way of meteorological information on the approaching hurricane was available to the Weather Bureau in Miami. As a result, hurricane warnings were not issued until midnight on Sept. 18, which gave the booming population of South Florida little notice of the impending disaster.
The Category 4 hurricane's eye moved directly over Miami Beach and downtown Miami during the morning hours of Sept. 18. This cyclone produced the highest sustained winds ever recorded in the United States at the time, and the barometric pressure fell to 27.61 inches as the eye passed over Miami. A storm surge of nearly 15 feet was reported in Coconut Grove. Many casualties resulted as people ventured outdoors during the half-hour lull in the storm as the eye passed overhead. Most residents, having not experienced a hurricane, believed that the storm had passed during the lull. They were suddenly trapped and exposed to the eastern half of the hurricane shortly thereafter. Every building in the downtown district of Miami was damaged or destroyed. The town of Moore Haven on the south side of Lake Okeechobee was completely flooded by lake surge from the hurricane. Hundreds of people in Moore Haven alone were killed by this surge, which left behind floodwaters in the town for weeks afterward.
The hurricane continued northwestward across the Gulf of Mexico and approached Pensacola on Sept. 20. The storm nearly stalled to the south of Pensacola later that day and buffeted the central Gulf Coast with 24 hours of heavy rainfall, hurricane force winds, and storm surge. The hurricane weakened as it moved inland over Louisiana later on Sept. 21. Nearly every pier, warehouse, and vessel on Pensacola Bay was destroyed.
The great hurricane of 1926 ended the economic boom in South Florida and would be a $90 billion disaster had it occurred in recent times. With a highly transient population across southeastern Florida during the 1920s, the death toll is uncertain since more than 800 people were missing in the aftermath of the cyclone. A Red Cross report lists 373 deaths and 6,381 injuries as a result of the hurricane.
Hurricane Donna 1960
 | One of the all-time great hurricanes, Donna was first detected as a tropical wave moving off the African coast on Aug. 29. It became a tropical storm over the tropical Atlantic the next day and a hurricane on Sept. 1. |
Donna followed a general west-northwestward track for the following five days, passing over the northern Leeward Islands on Sept. 4 and 5 as a Category 4 hurricane and then to the north of Puerto Rico later on Sept. 5. Donna turned westward on Sept. 7 and passed through the southeastern Bahamas. A northwestward turn on Sept. 9 brought the hurricane to the middle Florida Keys the next day at Category 4 intensity. Donna then curved northeastward, crossing the Florida Peninsula on Sept. 11, followed by eastern North Carolina (Category 3) on Sept. 12, and the New England states (Category 3 on Long Island and Categories 1 to 2 elsewhere) on Sept. 12 and 13. The storm became extratropical over eastern Canada on Sept. 13.
Donna is the only hurricane of record to produce hurricane-force winds in Florida, the Mid-Atlantic states, and New England. Sombrero Key, Fla., reported 128 mph sustained winds with gusts to 150 mph. In the Mid-Atlantic states, Elizabeth City, N.C., reported 83 mph sustained winds, while Manteo, N.C., reported a 120 mph gust. In New England, Block Island, R.I., reported 95 mph sustained winds with gusts to 130 mph.
Donna caused storm surges of up to 13 feet in the Florida Keys and 11-foot surges along the southwest coast of Florida. Four- to 8-foot surges were reported along portions of the North Carolina coast, with 5- to 10-foot surges along portions of the New England coast. Heavy rainfalls of 10 to 15 inches occurred in Puerto Rico, 6 to 12 inches in Florida, and 4 to 8 inches elsewhere along the path of the hurricane.
The landfall pressure of 27.46 inches makes Donna the fifth strongest hurricane of record to hit the United States. It was responsible for 50 deaths in the United States. One hundred and fourteen deaths were reported from the Leeward Islands to the Bahamas, including 107 in Puerto Rico caused by flooding from the heavy rains. The hurricane caused $387 million in damage in the United States and $13 million elsewhere along its path.
Hurricane Gilbert 1988
 | A tropical wave exiting the African coastline on Sept. 3 developed into the 12th tropical depression of the season on Sept. 8 while approaching the Windward Islands. The cyclone rapidly strengthened to hurricane status on Sept. 10 as a west-northwest motion brought Gilbert into the eastern Caribbean Sea. |
Gilbert passed directly over Jamaica on Sept. 12 as a major hurricane, becoming the first direct impact for the island from a hurricane since 1951. Winds gusted to nearly 150 mph as Gilbert produced a 9-foot storm surge along Jamaica’s northeast coast. Jamaica was devastated as the eyewall traversed the entire length of the island. During this period the eye contracted from 25 nautical miles to only 12 nautical miles upon exiting Jamaica.
Gilbert emerged off the western coastline of Jamaica and began a period of extraordinarily rapid intensification. The ferocious hurricane strengthened to Category 4 status as its northern eyewall pounded Grand Cayman Island with 155 mph wind gusts early on Sept. 13. Gilbert’s remarkable intensification trend continued as the cyclone reached Category 5 status on the afternoon of Sept. 13 and eventually reached peak winds of 185 mph. The minimum central pressure of the cyclone plummeted to 888 millibars, which represented a 70-millibar drop in only a 24-hour period. This minimum central pressure recorded by NOAA aircraft remains the lowest pressure ever recorded in the western hemisphere. Gilbert crossed the northeast coast of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula on Sept. 14, becoming the first Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin to strike land since Camille in 1969.
Gilbert weakened over the Yucatan peninsula and emerged into the western Gulf of Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane. Gilbert’s large circulation regained major hurricane status as the cyclone continued on a west-northwest course on Sept. 16. The hurricane made its final landfall near the town of La Pesca on the Mexican Gulf Coast on the evening of Sept. 16 as a strong Category 3 hurricane. Gilbert’s remnants spawned 29 tornadoes over Texas on Sept. 18, with flooding spreading to the Midwest as the remnants merged with a frontal boundary over Missouri on Sept. 19. Although no reliable measurements of storm surge exist from Gilbert’s two Mexican landfalls, estimates are that Gilbert produced between 15 and 20 feet of surge along the Yucatan and 8 to 13 feet at landfall in mainland Mexico.
Gilbert’s large size and impacts were felt over much of the Caribbean, Central America as well as portions of the United States. The death toll of 318 gives an idea of the scope of Gilbert's impacts: Mexico 202, Jamaica 45, Haiti 30, Guatemala 12, Honduras 12, Dominican Republic five, Venezuela five, United States three, Costa Rica two, and Nicaragua two. The deaths from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Venezuela were caused by inland flash flooding from outer rainbands.
Hurricane Hugo 1989
 | This classic Cape Verde hurricane was first detected as a tropical wave emerging from the coast of Africa on Sept. 9. Moving steadily westward, the system became a tropical depression the next day, a tropical storm on Sept. 11, and a hurricane on Sept. 13. Hugo turned west-northwest on Sept. 15 as it became a Category 5 hurricane. |
It was still a Category 4 hurricane when the center moved through the Leeward Islands and St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, on Sept. 18. Turning northwestward, the center passed across the eastern end of Puerto Rico on Sept. 19. This general motion would continue with some acceleration until Hugo made landfall just north of Charleston, S.C., on Sept. 22. Strengthening in the last 12 hours before landfall made Hugo a Category 4 hurricane at the coast. After landfall, the storm gradually recurved northeastward, becoming extratropical over southeastern Canada on Sept. 23.
The Naval Air Station at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, reported sustained winds of 104 mph with gusts to 120 mph, which were the highest winds reported from the Caribbean. A ship moored in the Sampit River in South Carolina measured sustained winds of 120 mph. High winds associated with Hugo extended far inland, with Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. reporting 67 mph sustained winds with gusts to 110 mph and Charlotte, N.C. reporting 69 mph sustained winds and gusts to 99 mph.
Storm surge from Hugo inundated the South Carolina coast from Charleston to Myrtle Beach, with maximum storm tides of 20 feet observed in the Cape Romain-Bulls Bay area.
Hugo was responsible for 21 deaths in the mainland United States, five more in Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands, and 24 more elsewhere in the Caribbean. Damage estimates were $7 billion in the mainland United States and $1 billion in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Hurricane Andrew 1992
 | The most destructive United States hurricane of record started modestly as a tropical wave that emerged from the west coast of Africa on Aug. 14. The wave spawned a tropical depression on Aug. 16, which became Tropical Storm Andrew the next day. |
Further development was slow, as the west-northwestward moving Andrew encountered an unfavorable upper-level trough. Indeed, the storm almost dissipated on Aug. 20 due to vertical wind shear. By Aug. 21, Andrew was midway between Bermuda and Puerto Rico and turning westward into a more favorable environment. Rapid strengthening occurred, with Andrew reaching hurricane strength on Aug. 22 and Category 4 status on Aug. 23. After briefly weakening over the Bahamas, Andrew regained Category 4 status as it blasted its way across south Florida on Aug. 24. The hurricane continued westward into the Gulf of Mexico where it gradually turned northward. This motion brought Andrew to the central Louisiana coast on Aug. 26 as a Category 3 hurricane. Andrew then turned northeastward, eventually merging with a frontal system over the Mid-Atlantic states on Aug. 28.
Reports from private barometers helped establish that Andrew's central pressure at landfall in Homestead, Fla., was 27.23 inches, which makes it the third most intense hurricane of record to hit the United States. Andrew's peak winds in south Florida were not directly measured due to destruction of the measuring instruments. An automated station at Fowey Rocks reported 142 mph sustained winds with gusts to 169 mph (measured 144 feet above the ground), and higher values may have occurred after the station was damaged and stopped reporting. The National Hurricane Center had a peak gust of 164 mph (measured 130 feet above the ground), while a 177 mph gust was measured at a private home. Additionally, Berwick, La., reported 96 mph sustained winds with gusts to 120 mph.
Andrew produced a 17-foot storm surge near the landfall point in Florida, while storm tides of at least 8 feet inundated portions of the Louisiana coast. Andrew also produced a killer tornado in southeastern Louisiana.
Andrew is responsible for 23 deaths in the United States and three more in the Bahamas. The hurricane caused $26.5 billion in damage in the United States, of which $1 billion occurred in Louisiana and the rest in south Florida. The vast majority of the damage in Florida was due to the winds. Damage in the Bahamas was estimated at $250 million.
Hurricane Ivan 2004
 | Ivan developed from a large tropical wave that crossed the west coast of Africa on Aug. 31, and spawned a tropical depression two days later. The depression reached storm strength on Sept. 3 (one of only a dozen on record to do so south of 10EN) and continued to strengthen. By Sept. 5, Ivan had become a hurricane about 1,150 miles east of the southern Windward Islands. Eighteen hours later Ivan became the southernmost storm to reach major hurricane status, at 10.2EN. |
Ivan was a Category 3 hurricane when the center passed about 7 miles south of Grenada, a path that took the northern eyewall of Ivan directly over the island. In the Caribbean, Ivan became a Category 5 hurricane, with winds of 160 mph, on Sept. 9 when it was south of the Dominican Republic, and on two occasions the minimum pressure fell to 910 mb. The center of Ivan passed within about 20 miles of Jamaica on Sept. 11 and a similar distance from Grand Cayman on Sept. 12, with Grand Cayman likely experiencing sustained winds of Category 4 strength. Ivan then turned to the northwest and passed through the Yucatan channel on Sept. 14, bringing hurricane conditions to extreme western Cuba. Ivan moved across the east-central Gulf of Mexico, making landfall as a major hurricane with sustained winds of near 120 mph on Sept. 16 just west of Gulf Shores, Ala.
Ivan weakened as it moved inland, producing more than 100 tornadoes and heavy rains across much of the southeastern United States, before merging with a frontal system over the Delmarva Peninsula on Sept. 18. While this would normally be the end of the story, the extratropical remnant low of Ivan split off from the frontal system and drifted southward in the western Atlantic for several days, crossed southern Florida, and re-entered the Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 21. The low re-acquired tropical characteristics, becoming a tropical storm for the second time on Sept. 22 in the central Gulf. Ivan weakened before it made its final landfall in southwestern Louisiana as a tropical depression on Sept. 24.
Ivan's storm surge completely over-washed the island of Grand Cayman, where an estimated 95 percent of the buildings were damaged or destroyed. Surge heights of 10-15 feet occurred along the Gulf coast during Ivan's first U.S. landfall. Peak rainfall amounts in the Caribbean and United States were generally 10-15 inches. The death toll from Ivan stands at 92: 39 in Grenada, 25 in the United States, 17 in Jamaica, four in Dominican Republic, three in Venezuela, two in the Cayman Islands, and one each in Tobago and Barbados. U.S. damage is estimated to be near $14.2 billion, the third largest total on record.
Hurricane Katrina 2005
 | Katrina was one of the most devastating hurricanes in the history of the United States. It is the deadliest hurricane to strike the United States since the Palm Beach-Lake Okeechobee hurricane of September 1928. It produced catastrophic damage - estimated at $75 billion in the New Orleans area and along the Mississippi coast - and is the costliest U. S. hurricane on record. |
This horrific tropical cyclone formed from the combination of a tropical wave, an upper-level trough, and the mid-level remnants of Tropical Depression Ten.
A tropical depression formed on Aug. 23 about 200 miles southeast of Nassau in the Bahamas. Moving northwestward, it became Tropical Storm Katrina during the following day about 75 miles east-southeast of Nassau. The storm moved through the northwestern Bahamas on Aug. 24-25, and then turned westward toward southern Florida. Katrina became a hurricane just before making landfall near the Miami-Dade/Broward county line during the evening of Aug. 25. The hurricane moved southwestward across southern Florida into the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 26. Katrina then strengthened significantly, reaching Category 5 intensity on Aug. 28. Later that day, maximum sustained winds reached 175 mph with an aircraft-measured central pressure of 902 mb while centered about 195 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Katrina turned to the northwest and then north, with the center making landfall near Buras, La., on Aug. 29 with maximum winds estimated at 125 mph (Category 3). Continuing northward, the hurricane made a second landfall near the Louisiana/Mississippi border with maximum winds estimated at 120 mph (Category 3). Weakening occurred as Katrina moved north-northeastward over land, but it was still a hurricane near Laurel, Miss. The cyclone weakened to a tropical depression over the Tennessee Valley on Aug. 30. Katrina became an extratropical low on Aug. 31 and was absorbed by a frontal zone later that day over the eastern Great Lakes.
Katrina brought hurricane conditions to southeastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi, and southwestern Alabama. The Coastal Marine Automated Network (C-MAN) station at Grand Isle, La., reported 10-minute average winds of 87 mph on Aug. 29 with a gust to 114 mph. Higher winds likely occurred there and elsewhere, as many stations were destroyed, lost power, or lost communications during the storm. Storm surge flooding of 25 to 28 feet above normal tide level occurred along portions of the Mississippi coast, with storm surge flooding of 10 to 20 feet above normal tide levels along the southeastern Louisiana coast. Hurricane conditions also occurred over southern Florida and the Dry Tortugas. The National Hurricane Center reported sustained winds of 69 mph on Aug. 26 with a gust to 87 mph. Additionally, tropical storm conditions occurred along the northern Gulf coast as far east as the coast of the western Florida Panhandle, as well as in the Florida Keys. Katrina caused 10 to 14 inches of rain over southern Florida, and 8 to 12 inches of rain along its track inland from the northern Gulf coast. Thirty-three tornadoes were reported from the storm.
Katrina is responsible for approximately 1,200 reported deaths, including about 1,000 in Louisiana and 200 in Mississippi. Seven additional deaths occurred in southern Florida. Katrina caused catastrophic damage in southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi. Storm surge along the Mississippi coast caused total destruction of many structures, with the surge damage extending several miles inland. Similar damage occurred in portions of southeastern Louisiana southeast of New Orleans. The surge overtopped and breached levees in the New Orleans metropolitan area, resulting in the inundation of much of the city and its eastern suburbs. Wind damage from Katrina extended well inland into northern Mississippi and Alabama. The hurricane also caused wind and water damage in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Hurricane Rita 2005
 | Rita, the third Category 5 hurricane of the season, was a destructive and deadly hurricane that devastated portions of southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana and significantly impacted the Florida Keys. |
A tropical wave and the remnants of an old front combined to produce and area of disturbed weather on Sept. 16. This system became a depression just east of the Turks and Caicos Islands late on Sept. 17, which moved westward and became a tropical storm the following afternoon. Maximum winds increased to 70 mph as Rita moved through the central Bahamas on Sept. 19. While the storm did not strengthen during the following night, rapid intensification began on Sept. 20 as it moved through the Straits of Florida. Rita became a hurricane that day and reached Category 2 intensity as the center passed about 50 miles south of Key West, Florida.
After entering the Gulf of Mexico, Rita intensified from Category 2 to Category 5 in about 24 hours. The maximum sustained winds reached 165 mph late on Sept. 21, and the hurricane reached a peak intensity of 180 mph early on Sept. 22. Weakening began later that day and continued until landfall on Sept. 24 just east of the Texas/Louisiana border between Sabine Pass and Johnson's Bayou. At that time, maximum sustained winds were 115 mph (Category 3). Weakening continued after landfall, but Rita remained a tropical storm until reaching northwestern Louisiana late on Sept. 24. The cyclone then turned northeastward and merged with a frontal system two days later. Rita brought hurricane conditions to southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas. A FCMP instrumented tower at Port Arthur reported 1-min average winds of 94 mph on Sept. 24 along with a gust of 116 mph. The C-MAN station at Sea Rim State Park, Texas, reported 2-minute average winds of 82 mph on Sept. 24, along with a peak gust of 99 mph. The hurricane caused storm-surge flooding of 10 to 15 feet above normal tide levels along the southwestern coast of Louisiana, caused a notable surge on the inland Lake Livingston, Texas, and inundated portions of the New Orleans area previously flooded by Katrina. Tropical storm conditions occurred in the Florida Keys, where the C-MAN station at Sand Key reported 10-minute average winds of 72 mph on Sept. 20 with a gust to 92 mph. The station failed shortly thereafter. Storm surge flooding of up to 5 feet above normal tide levels occurred in the Keys.
Rita produced rainfalls of 5 to 9 inches over large portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and eastern Texas, with isolated amounts of 10 to 15 inches. The cyclone spawned an estimated 90 tornadoes over the southern United States.
Devastating storm surge flooding and wind damage in occurred southwestern Louisiana and extreme southeastern Texas, with some surge damage occurring in the Florida Keys. Rita was responsible for seven deaths, and it caused damage estimated at $10 billion in the United States.
Hurricane Wilma 2005
 | The massive and powerful Wilma formed from a broad area of disturbed weather that stretched across much of the Caribbean Sea during the second week of October. A surface low pressure system gradually became defined near Jamaica on Oct. 14, leading to the formation of a tropical depression on Oct. 15 about 220 miles east-southeast of Grand Cayman. |
The cyclone moved erratically westward and southward for two days while slowly strengthening into a tropical storm.
Wilma became a hurricane and began a west-northwestward motion on Oct. 18. Later that day, Wilma began to explosively deepen. The aircraft-measured minimum central pressure reached 882 mb on Oct. 19. This pressure was accompanied by a 2-4 mile wide eye. Wilma's maximum intensity is estimated to have been 185 mph a few hours after the 882 mb pressure. On Oct. 20, Wilma weakened slightly and turned northwestward toward the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula. Late on Oct. 21, the slow-moving hurricane made landfall over Cozumel, followed by landfall early the next day over the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula - both at Category 4 intensity. Wilma moved slowly and weakened over northeastern Yucatan, emerging over the Gulf of Mexico early on Oct. 23 as a Category 2 hurricane. Later that day it accelerated northeastward toward southern Florida. The hurricane strengthened over the Gulf waters, and its center made landfall near Cape Romano on Oct. 24 as a Category 3 hurricane. The eye crossed the Florida Peninsula in less than five hours, moving into the Atlantic just north of Palm Beach as a Category 2 hurricane. Wilma briefly re-intensified just east of Florida, then weakened thereafter. The hurricane moved rapidly northeastward over the western Atlantic and became extratropical about 230 miles southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, late on Oct. 25. The remnants of Wilma were absorbed by another low late the next day.
Wilma brought hurricane conditions to the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula and the adjacent islands, as well as to southern Florida. In Mexico, Cancun reported 10-minute average winds of 100 mph with a gust to 130 mph on Oct. 22, while Cozumel reported a pressure of 928.0 mb late on Oct. 21. The Isla Mujeres reported 62.05 inches of rain during the hurricane's passage. In Florida, a South Florida Water Management District station in Lake Okeechobee reported 15-minute average winds of 92 mph with a gust to 112 mph on Oct. 24, while a nearby station in Belle Glade reported a gust to 117 mph. Ten tornadoes occurred in Florida due to Wilma.
Twenty-two deaths have been directly attributed to Wilma: 12 in Haiti, one in Jamaica, four in Mexico, and five in Florida. The hurricane caused severe damage in northeastern Yucatan, including Cancun and Cozumel, and widespread damage estimated at $16.8 billion in southern Florida. Wilma also produced major floods in western Cuba.
The 882 mb pressure reported in Wilma is the lowest central pressure on record in an Atlantic hurricane, breaking the old record of 888 mb set by Hurricane Gilbert in September 1988. The central pressure fell 88 mb in 12 hours, which shatters the record of 48 mb in 12 hours held by Hurricane Allen in August 1980.
For a longer list and description of some of the most significant Atlantic hurricanes, go here: www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/history.shtml
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