The 1883 Atlantic hurricane season ran through the summer and the first half of fall in 1883. This is the period of each year when most
tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depen ...
s form in the
Atlantic basin
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
. In the 1883 Atlantic season there was one tropical storm, one Category 1 hurricane, and two
major hurricanes (Category 3+). However, in the absence of modern
satellite monitoring and remote-sensing technologies, only storms that affected populated land areas or encountered ships at sea were recorded, so the actual total could be higher. An undercount bias of zero to six tropical cyclones per year between 1851 and 1885 and zero to four per year between 1886 and 1910 has been estimated.
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Season summary
The Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT)
recognizes four tropical cyclones for the 1883 season. In 1883 there was one tropical storm, one Category 1 hurricane and two major hurricanes in the Atlantic basin. Due to the inactivity of the season, there were no storms in June, July or November. Both Hurricane One and Hurricane Two were active in the Western Atlantic throughout the second half of August. Although Hurricane One was the only storm of the year not to make a landfall, it did cause 80 deaths among seafarers off Newfoundland. Hurricane Three was a major hurricane that was first seen in the Lesser Antilles and travelled north to eventually dissipate over Virginia. It caused 106 deaths in the Bahamas and North Carolina. The last known cyclone was a tropical storm active in October between the Bahamas and the coast of North Carolina.
Timeline
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Systems
Hurricane One
A tropical storm was first seen on August 18 in the tropical Atlantic. It moved to the west-northwest, becoming a hurricane before turning to the northeast. It moved past
Newfoundland on August 26.
The hurricane caused 80 deaths from swells in the Newfoundland area.
Hurricane Two
A hurricane was first seen on August 24 to the northeast of the Lesser Antilles. Resembling a
Cape Verde-type hurricane, it moved to the northwest, and reached major hurricane status on the 28th. On the 29th, the hurricane peaked at , but turned to the northeast where unfavorable conditions caused it to weaken. It passed south of the Canadian Maritimes, and became extratropical on August 30 to the east of
Newfoundland. The extratropical storm persisted until September 2 when it lost its identity over
East Anglia.
Hurricane Three
The Bahamas-North Carolina Hurricane of 1883
A major hurricane moved through the
Lesser Antilles
The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc bet ...
on September 4. It crossed
Hispaniola, weakening to a minimal hurricane. It restrengthened as it passed the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
, and struck
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
as a
Category 2 hurricane on the 11th. It dissipated over
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
on September 13.
Across North Carolina trees were uprooted and fences, light buildings, telegraph and telephone lines blown down . Several vessels were wrecked off the North Carolina coast and flooding occurred along the Cape Fear River.
In Virginia the rains from this storm helped end a summer-long drought but any benefit was minimal, as the peanut crop had already failed from the lack of rain. At
Nottoway, Virginia, heavy rain from the cyclone may have led to a train with 10 freight cars derailing.
Overall the hurricane caused 106 deaths in the Bahamas and North Carolina.
Tropical Storm Four
A tropical storm formed on October 22 over the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
. It moved to the north, then turned to the northeast while off the North Carolina coastline. The storm peaked at on October 24 before becoming extratropical the same night. As an extratropical cyclone it strengthened to an storm before dissipating.
See also
*
Atlantic hurricane
*
Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project
The Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration seeks to correct and add new information about past North Atlantic hurricanes. It was started around 2000 to update HURDAT, the official hurricane ...
*
Tropical cyclone observation
References
External links
1883 Monthly Weather Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:1883 Atlantic Hurricane Season
Atlantic Hurricane Season, 1883
Articles which contain graphical timelines
1883 natural disasters