1855 Atlantic Hurricane Season

The 1855 Atlantic hurricane season featured tropical cyclone landfalls in the Gulf Coast of the United States, the Greater Antilles, and Mexico, but none along the East Coast of the United States. It was inactive, with only five known tropical cyclones. Operationally, another tropical storm was believed to have existed offshore Atlantic Canada in late August and early September, but HURDAT – the official Atlantic hurricane database – now excludes this system. The first system, Hurricane One, was initially observed on August 6. The final storm, Hurricane Five, was last observed on September 17. These dates fall within the period with the most tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic. At one point during the season, two tropical cyclones existed simultaneously. Two of the cyclones only have a single known point in their tracks due to a sparsity of data, so storm summaries for those systems are unavailable.

Of the season's five tropical cyclones, four reached hurricane status. Furthermore, one of those four strengthened into a major hurricane, which are Category 3 or higher on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. The strongest cyclone of the season, Hurricane Five, peaked at Category 3 strength with winds. It brought only minor impact to Louisiana and Mississippi. The first storm of the season brought locally severe impact to Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico in early August. Tropical Storm Four caused severe damage in the Lesser Antilles.

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:200
PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20
Legend = columns:3 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:270
AlignBars = early

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/08/1851 till:01/10/1851
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/08/1851

Colors =
id:canvas value:gray(0.88)
id:GP value:red
id:TD value:rgb(0.38,0.73,1) legend:Tropical_Depression_(TD)_=_<39_mph_(0–62_km/h)
id:TS value:rgb(0,0.98,0.96) legend:Tropical_Storm_=_39–73_mph_(63–117 km/h)
id:C1 value:rgb(1,1,0.80) legend:Category_1_=_74–95_mph_(119–153_km/h)
id:C2 value:rgb(1,0.91,0.46) legend:Category_2_=_96–110_mph_(154–177_km/h)
id:C3 value:rgb(1,0.76,0.25) legend:Category_3_=_111–130_mph_(178–209-km/h)
id:C4 value:rgb(1,0.56,0.13) legend:Category_4_=_131–155_mph_(210–249_km/h)
id:C5 value:rgb(1,0.38,0.38) legend:Category_5_=_>=156_mph_(>=250_km/h)

Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas

BarData =
barset:Hurricane
bar:Month

PlotData=

barset:Hurricane width:10 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till
from:06/08/1851 till:06/08/1851 color:C2 text:"One (C2)"
from:10/08/1851 till:11/08/1851 color:C2 text:"Two (C2)"
from:11/08/1851 till:11/08/1851 color:C1 text:"Three (C1)"
from:24/08/1851 till:27/08/1851 color:TS text:"Four (TS)"
from:15/09/1851 till:17/09/1851 color:C3 text:"Five (C3)"

bar:Month width:15 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas
from:01/08/1851 till:01/09/1851 text:August
from:01/09/1851 till:01/10/1851 text:September

TextData =
pos:(570,30)
text:"(From the"
pos:(617,30)
text:" Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale)"

Systems

Hurricane One

Based on newspaper reports, the first hurricane of the season was within the vicinity of Tampico, Tamaulipas on August 6. Maximum sustained winds were at , indicating a Category 2 hurricane. No further information is available on the meteorological history of this storm. However, it is possible that the storm developed in the Caribbean in late July, due to data obtained from the barque ''Bercaldine''. Torrential rainfall in the Tampico area caused disastrous flooding, with heavy damage to goods and property. Eleven vessels were docked at Tampico, some of which lost their cargo. At the mouth of the Pánuco River, a pilot station and a fort were swept away. The event was considered "the worst inundation of Tampico over the last 30 years".

Hurricane Two

The ship ''James Foster Jr.'' encountered a hurricane on August 10, while located about east-southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Sustained winds of were observed, equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane. Data from the ''James Foster Jr.'' and ''Rebecca'' indicate that the storm moved rapidly northeastward. This system was last noted about west of Ireland on August 11.

Hurricane Three

HMS ''Walverine'' reported a hurricane at 12.5°N, 83.0°W, which is located about north of Corn Islands, Nicaragua. A sustained wind speed of was observed. Shortly thereafter, HMS ''Walverine'' was wrecked and no further information is known about this storm.

Tropical Storm Four

Based on reports of a strong gale, a tropical storm was first tracked about east-southeast of Barbados early on August 24. It initially headed westward, before re-curving west-northwestward early on the following day. Shortly thereafter, the storm passed through the Windward Islands between Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The storm peaked with winds of while moving northwestward across the Caribbean Sea. It weakened slightly before making landfall near San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic with winds of early on August 27. The storm slowly weakened over Hispaniola and was last noted near Bombardopolis, Haiti later that day.

There was considerable damage in the Lesser Antilles. On Saint Vincent, rains destroyed roads and a number of houses. Many sugar cane fields were also ruined. Several vessels were lost there and on other islands, including Barbados, Dominica, and Martinique. On Saint Croix in the present-day U.S. Virgin Islands, at least one vessel was destroyed by the heavy gales. There were also strong gales reported in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.

Hurricane Five

The Middle Gulf Shore Hurricane of 1855

The ship ''Orphan'' encountered a hurricane with winds of in the central Gulf of Mexico on September 15. It strengthened quickly while moving northward, becoming a Category 2 hurricane later that day. By 0000 UTC on September 16, the storm peaked as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of , making it the strongest tropical cyclone of the season. Shortly thereafter, the hurricane made landfall near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana at the same intensity. It weakened after moving inland, decreasing to Category 1 intensity later on September 16. Early on the following day, the system weakened to a tropical storm, several hours before dissipating over central Alabama.

This was regarded as the worst hurricane in the region since 1819. In Louisiana, winds and storm surge impacted the eastern portions of the state. The wharf and bathhouse in Proctorville were swept away. About of water was reported at Proctor's Landing. A combination of strong winds and storm surge destroyed a number of houses along the shores of Lake Borgne. Along the coast of Mississippi, most structures were swept to sea. The foundation of the Biloxi Lighthouse was endangered due to erosion from this storm. The Cat Island Lighthouse was also left in "severe peril". Several ships were damaged or capsized in the Mississippi River, including ''Atchafalaya'', ''J.S. Chenoweth'', ''Ship Shoal'', and ''Venice''.Early American hurricanes 1492–1870, David Ludlum, pp. 163–165

Other systems

In addition to the five tropical systems, another storm was operationally believed to have existed in late August and early September. The ship ''Atlantic'' encountered a very heavy gale while located west of Sable Island, Nova Scotia on August 31. The storm moved rapidly east-northeastward offshore Atlantic Canada. It was last noted on September 2 and was thought to have transitioned into an extratropical cyclone. However, HURDAT no longer includes this system in its database.

See also

* Atlantic hurricane season
* List of Atlantic hurricanes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1855 Atlantic Hurricane Season

Atlantic hurricane seasons
Hurricanes
1855 meteorology
August 1855 events
September 1855 events