1944 Atlantic hurricane season
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 Season summary map |
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| First storm formed: | July 13, 1944 |
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| Last storm dissipated: | Oct. 20, 1944 |
| Strongest storm: | Great Atlantic Hurricane - 120 knots (140 mph) |
| Total storms: | 11 |
| Major storms (Cat. 3+): | 3 |
| Total damage: | $202+ million (1944 USD) |
| Total fatalities: | 1156 |
| Atlantic hurricane seasons 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946 |
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The 1944 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 1944, and lasted until November 30, 1944. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin.
The 1944 season was a fairly active one. A Category 1 hurricane hit North Carolina. A Category 3 hit Jamaica. Another Category 3 hit Florida late in the season. A Category 1 hurricane and a tropical storm hit Mexico. Another tropical storm hit Grand Isle, Louisiana.
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[edit] Storms
[edit] Hurricane One
The first storm of the season formed on July 13 and moved northwest, paralleling the Bahamas, slowly strengthening. It recurved once in the Gulf Stream off the Georgia coast and became a hurricane shortly thereafter. The storm passed between the US and Bermuda and became extratropical as it entered the north Atlantic.
[edit] Tropical Storm Two
A tropical storm moved through the Lesser Antilles on July 24th. It continued through the Caribbean Sea, and dissipated on the 28th over the Western Caribbean. The storm caused some damage on southern Hispaniola, but no deaths were reported.
[edit] Hurricane Three
On July 30th, a tropical storm was located in the eastern Bahamas. It moved northwestward, becoming a hurricane the next day. The hurricane moved inland over southern North Carolina on the 2nd, and continued northeastward until dissipation on the 4th. The hurricane caused $2 million in damage (1944 dollars) but no deaths.
[edit] Hurricane Four
A small tropical storm existed east of Barbados on August 16. It passed through the islands, and steadily intensified to a major hurricane as it passed through the Caribbean. The major hurricane struck eastern Jamaica on the 20th, causing major damage to crops from flooding. It continued westward across the Caribbean, hitting the eastern Yucatán Peninsula on the 22nd. Hurricane Four moved across the Bay of Campeche, and hit the Mexican port of Tuxpan, Veracruz, on the 24th just before dissipating. The hurricane caused several million dollars in damage, and left 216 people dead.
[edit] Tropical Storm Five
A tropical storm hit northeastern Mexico on August 22nd, causing little damage after it dissipated on the 22rd.
[edit] Tropical Storm Six
A tropical storm hit southeastern Louisiana on September 10th. It dissipated the next day, after causing minor damage in Mobile, Alabama.
[edit] Hurricane Seven
- Main article: 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane
The most notable hurricane of the season was the Great Atlantic Hurricane (sometimes referred to as the Great American Hurricane), an intense Cape Verde-type hurricane that traveled up the Eastern Seaboard as a Category 2, sweeping the beaches, sinking ships, and throwing wave watchers into the sea. The entire coastline from Point Lookout, North Carolina to Cape Cod were raked with hurricane-force winds. The hurricane caused several millions of dollars in damage, as well as 390 deaths.
[edit] Hurricane Eight
A tropical wave developed into a tropical storm in the western Caribbean Sea on September 19th. It became a hurricane later that day, and hit the Yucatán Peninsula on the 20th. The hurricane turned southward in the Bay of Campeche, making landfall near Campeche, Campeche, on the 22nd. The hurricane dissipated later that day, after resulting in extensive damage from flooding as well as 200-300 fatalities.
[edit] Hurricane Nine
A tropical disturbance from the Cape Verde region developed into a tropical storm in the south-central Atlantic on September 21. The storm made a broad turn to the north and slowly strengthened. It became a hurricane while well east of Bermuda and continued its journey north. The storm was briefly a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 mph before weakening in the cooler waters of the north Atlantic. The storm was able, however, to maintain hurricane status until it became extratropical in the far north Atlantic south of Greenland.
[edit] Tropical Storm Ten
The tenth storm was a weak tropical storm that formed to the immediate northeast of Barbados in early October. The storm turned north with peak winds of 45 mph. It never got any stronger. After moving north for a little ways, the storm turned away from the islands and dissipated causing nothing but rain showers.
[edit] Hurricane Eleven
- Main article: Sanibel Island Hurricane of 1944
A tropical storm formed in the western Caribbean Sea on October 12th. It headed northward, becoming a hurricane the next day. It drifted westward, followed by another northward turn where it reached major hurricane strength. It crossed Cuba at this intensity on the 18th, and continued northeastward where it made landfall on Sarasota, Florida on the 19th. The hurricane continued northeastward over the southeast United States, and became extratropical on the 21st. The hurricane caused $100 million in damage (1944 dollars), as well as 300 casualties.
