1850-1859 Atlantic hurricane seasons
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The decade of the 1850s featured the 1850-1859 Atlantic hurricane seasons. While data is not available for every storm that occurred, 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.
[edit] 1850 Atlantic hurricane season
The first of three hurricanes to affect the upper Eastern Seaboard moved into North Carolina on July 18. As it moved north, Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay took a beating as high waves and tides flooded the coast. It moved almost due north into central New York state.
The second hurricane hit North Carolina on August 24, sinking one ship.
A powerful Gulf hurricane struck Apalachicola on the same day as the previous hurricane, causing a great storm surge over the northeast Gulf coast. As the system moved north, enormous amounts of rain fell from Georgia northward to Virginia. Major flooding occurred along numerous rivers. The Dan rose to a level twenty feet above normal. The cyclone continued northeast, causing damage in its wake through New England.
[edit] 1851 Atlantic hurricane season
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The 1851 Atlantic hurricane season was the first Atlantic hurricane season in the official Atlantic tropical cyclone record.[1] Six known tropical cyclones occurred during the season, the earliest of which formed on June 25 and the latest of which dissipated on October 19. These dates fall within the range of most Atlantic tropical cyclone activity. None of the cyclones existed simultaneously with another. Of the six storms, two only have a single point in their track known. In addition to the storms in the official hurricane database, unofficial hurricanes were reported each near Tampico and Jamaica.
Five of the six tropical cyclones affected land, including three making landfall as a hurricane. The first struck Texas as a hurricane, which caused moderate to heavy damage, particularly to shipping in Matagorda Bay. One death was indirectly related to the hurricane, as well as at least two injuries. The strongest and deadliest hurricane of the season tracked from east of the Lesser Antilles, through the Greater Antilles, and across the southeastern United States before last being observed near Newfoundland. When it hit near Panama City, Florida as the equivalence of a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, it caused at least 23 deaths, including five when a lighthouse was destroyed. Many houses were destroyed along its path, primarily along the Florida Panhandle. The other landfalling hurricane was one that struck near Tampico, where it caused heavy damage. The last tropical storm of the season made landfall on Rhode Island, though associated damage is unknown. A tropical storm affected the Lesser Antilles in early July, and another tropical storm remained nearly stationary for three days to the southeast of North Carolina.
[edit] 1852 Atlantic hurricane season
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A hurricane was first detected near the Bahamas on August 19 as a tropical storm. It became a hurricane on August 20 and passed through the Bahamas. Its center passed between southern Florida and northern Cuba on August 22, and became a major hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico on the 24th before hitting southeastern Mississippi on the 25th. It turned east and, as a tropical storm, crossed the southern U.S. It reached the Atlantic again on the 28th, and was last seen on the 30th, 100 miles east of Cape Cod. According to a newspaper, it caused "many casualties".
Puerto Rico was hit by a minimal hurricane on September 5. It weakened to a tropical storm, and hit Dominican Republic the next day, dissipating over the island that day. The hurricane caused around 100 deaths.
On October 6 a hurricane was first seen in the Western Caribbean. It moved northwestward, then northeastward, hitting the Florida Panhandle on the 10th. It turned northeastward, last being seen on the 11th. The hurricane flooded northwestern Florida, with some towns underwater for days.
[edit] 1853 Atlantic hurricane season
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A powerful, long-tracking Cape Verde-type hurricane that reached Category 4 intensity moved through the open Atlantic during the 2nd week of September, causing 40 deaths due to ships sinking. The storm recurved, never threatening any major land masses while moving well north of the Caribbean islands and well east of the Bahamas. At its peak it was estimated at 150 mph, with a minimum central pressure of 924 mbar [1]. This was the lowest pressure ever measured in an Atlantic hurricane for 82 years; until the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. This is the longest time a storm ever held that record. (Based on the "Best Track" archives compiled by the National Hurricane Center. The Great Havana Hurricane of 1846 might have been stronger.)
Other storms of the season include a tropical storm that passed near Bermuda before looping and strengthening to a peak intensity of Category 1 hurricane status that never threatened land, and a hurricane off the coast of Florida that brushed past Georgia as a strong Category 2 storm before weakening and turning out to sea.
[edit] 1854 Atlantic hurricane season
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A major hurricane was observed over the Bahamas on September 7. It moved northwestward, making landfall near Savannah, Georgia as a strong hurricane, estimated at Category 3 intensity. It continued through the Carolinas, moving off the coast of Virginia on the 10th. It restrengthened to a Category 2 hurricane, but dissipated on the 12th. It caused 26 deaths.
Another hurricane was observed in September, moving through the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane. It moved inland near Galveston, Texas, causing 2 deaths from nearly 6 inches of rainfall, as well as $20,000 in damage.
[edit] 1855 Atlantic hurricane season
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A minimal hurricane was observed in the central Gulf of Mexico during the middle of September. It rapidly strengthened to a 130 mph (210 km/h) hurricane before striking southeast Louisiana on September 16. It dissipated over Mississippi on the 17th.
[edit] 1856 Atlantic hurricane season
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- Main article: 1856 Last Island Hurricane
A Category 4 hurricane hit the island resort town of Last Island, Louisiana, causing at least 200 deaths, and perhaps as many as 400.
A tropical storm existed on August 19, moving into North Carolina that night. It went out to sea the next day, after causing heavy rain over the area. This is known as the Charter Oak Storm.
A hurricane existed north of Hispanola on August 25. It moved westward, striking the north coast of Cuba before heading northward to a Florida landfall. It crossed the southeast U.S. and went out to sea.
[edit] 1857 Atlantic hurricane season
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A tropical storm was first observed north-northeast of the Dominican Republic on September 9. It moved northwestward, strengthening to a hurricane on the 10th and a Category 2 on the 12th, passing over the Outer Banks on the 13th. It weakened and went out to sea on the 14th. It caused 424 deaths, all from the ship named the SS Central America which sank during the storm. Also on the ship was 30,000 pounds of gold, which contributed to the Panic of 1857.
[edit] 1858 Atlantic hurricane season
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A tropical storm forming over the Gulf of Mexico moved across Florida and strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane. It rapidly moved northeastward, hitting New England as a Category 1 hurricane on September 16 and causing heavy rain.
[edit] 1859 Atlantic hurricane season
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A minimal hurricane hit near Mobile, Alabama on September 16. A tropical storm also made landfall in south Florida on October 17.
