1899 Hurricane San Ciriaco
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| Category 4 hurricane (SSHS) | ||
|---|---|---|
 Hurricane damage in Puerto Rico after Hurricane San Ciriaco |
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| Formed | August 3, 1899 | |
| Dissipated | September 4, 1899 | |
| Highest winds |
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| Lowest pressure | 930 mbar (hPa; 27.47 inHg) | |
| Fatalities | 3433 direct | |
| Damage | Unknown | |
| Areas affected |
Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Bahamas, North Carolina, Azores | |
| Part of the 1899 Atlantic hurricane season |
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Hurricane San Ciriaco, also known as the 1899 Puerto Rico Hurricane, San Ciriaco Hurricane, or 1899 Hurricane San Ciriaco, was an intense and long-lived Atlantic Cape Verde-type hurricane which crossed Puerto Rico over the two day period August 8 to August 9, 1899. Many deaths occurred as a result, due to flooding. The cyclone kept tropical storm strength or higher for 28 days, which makes it the longest duration Atlantic hurricane on record and the second-longest anywhere in the world (behind Hurricane John in 1994). With an estimated ACE of 73.6, it is the tropical storm with the highest ever ACE recorded in the Atlantic basin. [1][citation needed]
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[edit] Storm history
The tropical storm that later ravaged Puerto Rico developed on August 3 in the tropical Atlantic, likely from a tropical wave. It moved in a west-northwest direction, becoming a hurricane on the 5th. As it neared the northern Lesser Antilles, it strengthened into a major hurricane, bringing heavy winds to Dominica, St. Kitts, and Guadeloupe on the 7th. It continued to intensify to its peak of 150 mph before hitting southeast Puerto Rico on the 8th, the namesday of Saint Cyriacus. It crossed the island in an east-southeast to west-northwest direction, causing maximum wind speeds between 110 and 140 mph throughout. (A good account of the hurricane's passage through the city of Ponce, where he was stationed at the time, is given by Dr. Bailey Ashford in his book A Soldier in Science).
After it passed Puerto Rico, it brushed northern Dominican Republic as a Category 3 hurricane, but passed north enough to not cause major damage. It passed through the Bahamas, retaining its strength as it moved slowly northward. After drifting northeastward, the hurricane turned northwestward, hitting the Outer Banks on August 17. It drifted northeastward over the state, re-emerging into the Atlantic on the 19th. It continued eastward, where it became extratropical on the 22nd.
| Highest ACE hurricanes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Name | Season | ACE | ||||
| 1 | "San Ciriaco" | 1899 | 73.57 | ||||
| 2 | Ivan | 2004 | 70.38 | ||||
| 3 | "Four" | 1926 | 67.59 | ||||
| 4 | Donna | 1960 | 64.55 | ||||
| 5 | "Charleston" | 1893 | 63.53 | ||||
| Main article: Accumulated Cyclone Energy | |||||||
| Source: This list | |||||||
The extratropical cyclone turned southeastward where, on August 26, it became a tropical storm again. Like most of the rest of its lifetime, it drifted, first to the northwest then to the east. It strengthened as it moved eastward, and on September 3, as it was moving through the Azores, it again became a hurricane. The intensification didn't last long, and the hurricane became extratropical for the final time on the 4th. It dissipated that day while racing across the northeastern Atlantic.
[edit] Impact
| Deadliest Atlantic hurricanes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Hurricane | Season | Fatalities |
| 1 | "Great Hurricane" | 1780 | 22,000 |
| 2 | Mitch | 1998 | 11,000 – 18,000 |
| 3 | "Galveston" | 1900 | 8,000 – 12,000 |
| 4 | Fifi | 1974 | 8,000 – 10,000 |
| 5 | "Dominican Republic" | 1930 | 2,000 – 8,000 |
| 6 | Flora | 1963 | 7,186 – 8,000 |
| 7 | "Pointe-a-Pitre" | 1776 | 6,000+ |
| 8 | "Newfoundland | 1775 | 4,000 – 4,163 |
| 9 | "Okeechobee" | 1928 | 4,075+ |
| 10 | "San Ciriaco" | 1899 | 3,433+ |
| Main article: List of deadliest Atlantic hurricanes | |||
Estimates of storm-related fatalities range from 3,100 to 3,400, with millions of dollars in crop damage in Puerto Rico. North Carolina had considerable tobacco and corn damage from the longevity of the strong winds and rain.
Another hurricane struck Puerto Rico on August 22. Overall, the island was swamped by 28 days of rain, contributing to the overall disaster (see History of Puerto Rico).
[edit] See also
[edit] Sources and external links
- Highlights of Re-analysis
- Unisys Track archive
- Hurricane San Ciriaco
- Puerto Rico Hurricanes and Tropical Storms
- Schwartz, Stuart B. “The Hurricane of San Ciriaco: Disaster, Politics, and Society in Puerto Rico, 1899-1901.” Hispanic American Historical Review 72 (August 1982): 303-334.
