1492-1524 Atlantic hurricane seasons
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The years from 1492 to 1524 featured the 1492-1524 Atlantic hurricane seasons. While data for every storm that occurred is unavailable, some parts of the coastline were populated enough to give data of hurricane occurrences. Each season was an ongoing event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation in the Atlantic basin. Most tropical cyclone formation occurs between June 1 and November 30.
Data for years before 1492 is completely unavailable because record keeping was virtually non-existent in the pre-Columbian era, and any records that may have once existed have long since been lost. However, studies of sediment deposits in Florida have revealed that a very strong series of hurricanes struck the region thousands of years ago. Even data from the early years of the Columbian era is suspect and incomplete because the distinction between a hurricane and an extratropical system was not drawn by Renaissance scientists and sailors and because European exploration and colonization of the regions affected by hurricanes did not begin in earnest until the mid-16th century.
[edit] Storms
| Year | Location | Date | Deaths | Damage/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1494 | Hispaniola | June 16 | N/A | Possible hurricane; could have been the first hurricane in the Western Hemisphere observed and reported by Europeans. |
| 1495 | West Indies | N/A | N/A | 3 ships sunk, earliest definite report of a hurricane, came from Christopher Columbus; "Nothing but the service of God and the extension of monarchy would expose me to such danger" |
| 1500 | Bahamas | July | N/A | 2 ships destroyed |
| 1502 | Hispaniola | July 1 | N/A | 20 ships, all on board perish |
| 1502 | Offshore Dominican Republic | 11 July | 500 | N/A |
| 1502 | Honduras | 16 September | N/A | 1 ship sunk, all drowned aboard |
| 1504 | North Coast of Colombia | N/A | 175 | N/A |
| 1508 | Dominican Republic | 12 August | N/A | Destroyed entire population of Buenaventura |
| 1509 | Santo Domingo | 29 July | N/A | Moderate damage |
| 1515 | Puerto Rico | July | Death of many Indians | N/A |
| 1519 | Jamaica | N/A | N/A | Ship sunk, 18 survived |
| 1523 | Florida west coast | N/A | N/A | 2 ships and their crews lost |
| 1524 | Cuba | October | 73 | N/A |
