1888 Louisiana Hurricane
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The 1888 Louisiana hurricane was a major hurricane that caused significant
flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
ing and wind damage to the
Mississippi River Delta The Mississippi River Delta is the confluence of the Mississippi River with the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana, southeastern United States. The river delta is a area of land that stretches from Vermilion Bay on the west, to the Chandeleur Isla ...
and the
Mississippi Valley The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...
in late August 1888. It was the third
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. Depend ...
and second hurricane of the 1888 Atlantic hurricane season. The cyclone first appeared north-northeast of the
Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...
, but may have formed earlier, undetected. It moved west-northwest, reaching hurricane intensity and making several landfalls in
the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
. In the island chain, the hurricane caused some damage to shipping, fruit groves, and fences, but apparently caused no known deaths. The storm then peaked as the equivalence of a strong Category 3 hurricane before hitting
South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...
near present-day
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...
. Few people then lived in the area, so damage was mostly minimal, but a large storm surge affected the coast, and areas farther north on the peninsula reported damage to fruit groves, communications wires, and boats. Afterward, the cyclone crossed the thinly populated southern peninsula into the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
, which it reached as a weaker hurricane. Re-intensifying over the Gulf of Mexico, the hurricane attained a secondary peak intensity of before hitting Louisiana at that intensity. Areas along the Gulf Coast reported significant, widespread destruction from heavy rains, storm surge, and high tides, especially in Louisiana, where the storm destroyed crops and blew down buildings. The storm then curved northeast into
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
before transitioning into an extratropical low-pressure area. The outer bands of the storm produced gale-force winds in the region and nearby Mid-Atlantic states, downing loose objects such as tree branches, awnings, and wires. Heavy rains washed out transportation networks like roads and railroads, but the worst effects were from a tornado outbreak; several significant tornadoes hit the Mid-Atlantic region, one of which caused 10 of the 12 reported deaths in the outbreak.


Meteorological synopsis

By 12:00 UTC on August 14, a weak tropical storm with winds of formed about north-northeast of the
Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...
. Operationally, the
U.S. Signal Corps ) , colors = Orange and white , colors_label = Corps colors , march = , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label = ...
, responsible for
weather forecasting Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology forecasting, to predict the conditions of the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia a ...
at the time, did not issue updates on the system until August 16, when observations first indicated a low-pressure area off the coast of South Florida. (The precise formative date of the cyclone was not documented in available observations, and may have occurred earlier than officially estimated.) Upon formation, the cyclone moved west-northwest toward
The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
—then a British
crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...
and overseas territory—and steadily strengthened. As a strong tropical storm, the cyclone made its first landfall on the northern tip of
San Salvador Island San Salvador Island (known as Watling's Island from the 1680s until 1925) is an island and district of The Bahamas. It is widely believed that during Christopher Columbus's first expedition to the New World, this island was the first land he s ...
, then known as Watlings Island until 1925. It first attained hurricane intensity by 12:00 UTC on August 15, exactly 24 hours after formation. As it reached hurricane intensity, the storm made its second landfall on Cat Island in The Bahamas with maximum sustained winds of . Continuing on its west-northwestward course, the hurricane passed over the northern islands of
Exuma Exuma is a district of The Bahamas, consisting of over 365 islands, also called cays. The largest of the cays is Great Exuma, which is 37 mi (60 km) in length and joined to another island, Little Exuma, by a small bridge. The capital ...
with winds of . Afterward, it strengthened further to the equivalent of a modern Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, with winds of . Around 00:00 UTC on August 16, the center, or
eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...
, of the cyclone passed south of the Bahamian capital
Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
, on
New Providence New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It is the location of the national capital city of Nassau, whose boundaries are coincident with the island; it had a population of 246 ...
Island. Still pursuing a track to the west-northwest, the cyclone made a fourth landfall on the northern portion of Andros Island. It then crossed the island in fewer than six hours, and by 06:00 UTC on August 16 it became a major hurricane—equivalent to a modern Category 3 on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale—with winds of . After reaching major hurricane status, the cyclone approached the
Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Current, North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida a ...
off the southeast coast of Florida. By 12:00 UTC on August 16, it attained its first and strongest peak intensity of , near the upper threshold of the modern Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. About seven hours later, the hurricane struck the coast of South Florida, just north of present-day
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...
, at its peak intensity. (The point of landfall was near the present-day site of Upper Eastside in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
.) Although few observations were available near the inner core of the cyclone, scientific reassessment conducted by the
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 d ...
determined that the
central pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...
at landfall was likely close to , based primarily upon an observed storm surge value. The hurricane is one of 15 major hurricanes to have impacted southeast Florida since official records in the Atlantic hurricane database (
HURDAT The Hurricane Databases (HURDAT), managed by the National Hurricane Center, are two separate databases that contain details on tropical cyclones, that have occurred within the Atlantic Ocean and Eastern Pacific Ocean since 1851 and 1949 respectiv ...
) began in 1851. After striking South Florida—now defined as part of the
Miami metropolitan area The Miami metropolitan area (also known as Greater Miami, the Tri-County Area, South Florida, or the Gold Coast) is the ninth largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the 34th largest metropolitan area in the world with a ...
—the cyclone weakened as it moved inland over the
Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical climate, tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orland ...
, passing well to the south of Lake Okeechobee. By 06:00 UTC on August 17, the cyclone reached the coast of Southwest Florida near present-day Cape Coral; due to interaction with land, its maximum sustained winds had decreased to , equivalent to a modern Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. The storm then passed out into the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
near present-day
Matlacha Matlacha ( "MAT-la-shay") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 598. It is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Matlacha ...
and Cayo Costa State Park. After entering the Gulf of Mexico off Southwest Florida, the cyclone began to re-intensify and turn to the west. By 18:00 UTC on August 17, the hurricane regained winds equivalent to those of a modern Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. After having traveled west-northwest for its entire lifespan, at this time its path shifted to the west and began to approach the northern
U.S. Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...
. By 00:00 UTC on August 18, the cyclone attained its second peak intensity of , just below the modern Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. As it neared the coast of Louisiana, the hurricane maintained its intensity while gradually turning to the northwest and north-northwest. Around 16:00 UTC on August 19, the center of the cyclone made landfall just south of Cocodrie in
Terrebonne Parish Terrebonne Parish ( ; French: ''Paroisse de Terrebonne'') is a parish located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 census, the population was 111,860, and 110,461 in 2019. In 2020, its population declined to 109,58 ...
with winds of . As it moved inland over the marshes of southern Louisiana, the hurricane turned northward and slowly weakened. By 18:00 UTC on August 20, the cyclone weakened to a strong tropical storm as it neared the town of Greenville in western
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
. Its path gradually inclined to the northeast and accelerated over the
Mississippi Valley The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...
, reaching the Mid-Atlantic region by 00:00 UTC on August 22. Early on August 22, the storm passed over southern New England, and by 12:00 UTC it became extratropical while centered about south of
Bar Harbor, Maine Bar Harbor is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. During the summer and fall seasons, it is a popular tourist destination and, until a catastrophic fire i ...
. The extratropical cyclone was last positioned northeast of
Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
at 18:00 UTC on August 24.


Preparations and impact

As the hurricane passed through The Bahamas, it damaged fruit trees, crops, and fences, especially on the
Abaco Islands Abaco is a variant Italian form of the Biblical name "Habakkuk" (but normally Abacùc or Abacucco). Abaco may refer to: People *Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco (1675–1742), Italian composer and violinist *Joseph Abaco (1710–1805), Belgian compose ...
,
Harbour Island A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...
, and New Providence. According to the ''New York Times'', winds in Nassau, on New Providence, shifted from northeast and southwest, lasting about eight hours, but causing only slight damage to nearby shipping. The hurricane affected few people in South Florida, striking a portion of the coast that was largely unpopulated and devoid of major settlements. Nevertheless, the cyclone produced widespread damage over much of the region, extending as far north as
Sebastian Sebastian may refer to: People * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film * ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...
. The highest wind speed reported in South Florida was below hurricane intensity—only at Point Jupiter—and only modest rainfall of was measured at the same location. The highest winds on the east coast of Florida occurred at Sebastian Inlet and were estimated to have reached minimal hurricane intensity, , from the northeast. The strong winds downed trees and telegraph poles; additionally, many small boats were reportedly pushed ashore, and nearby fruit groves sustained "several thousand dollars" in damage. Although the storm mostly produced minimal damage, it reportedly generated a large storm surge of "on the beaches near Miami"—one of the highest on record in South Florida. The surge was comparable to the visually estimated from Coconut Grove in the
1926 Miami hurricane The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 was a large and intense tropical cyclone that devastated the Greater Miami area and caused catastrophic damage in the Bahamas and the U.S. Gulf Coast in September of the year 1926, accruing a US$100 mill ...
—in fact, it was even higher than the officially measured value of in Miami from the same storm—and was only exceeded by the measured at the Burger King International Headquarters near Cutler in Dade County during
Hurricane Andrew Hurricane Andrew was a very powerful and destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It is the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged ...
in
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
. However, little information is available about the circumstances of the storm surge value reported in 1888. As the hurricane passed into the Gulf of Mexico, high tides and strong winds affected the northern U.S. Gulf Coast, beginning in the Big Bend and the
Florida Panhandle The Florida Panhandle (also West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida; it is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long and wide, lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia (U. ...
. The town of Cedar Key experienced light rain as the storm passed well to its southwest. The town also witnessed peak winds of that led to reports of yachts capsizing. The Florida Panhandle, closer to the center of the storm, experienced much higher winds and sustained heavier damages. Winds of affected the town of Pensacola, causing significant damage to property in the area. Farther west, other communities reported even more severe damage due to high tides and storm surge. For instance, the city of
Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...
, experienced one of its worst floods on record as a storm surge caused the
Mobile River The Mobile River is located in southern Alabama in the United States. Formed out of the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers, the approximately river drains an area of of Alabama, with a watershed extending into Mississippi, Georg ...
to overflow, submerging the Mobile waterfront to a depth of and spreading floodwater two to three blocks inland. Strong winds that peaked at in the city topped trees, blew down fences, and unroofed some homes. Some damage occurred along the Mississippi coast as waves washed out some coastal structures and winds prostrated trees. However, the worst damage occurred in the
Mississippi River Delta The Mississippi River Delta is the confluence of the Mississippi River with the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana, southeastern United States. The river delta is a area of land that stretches from Vermilion Bay on the west, to the Chandeleur Isla ...
, just to the east of the center, where severe flooding left large sections of countryside underwater. Severe damage occurred to crops in the area, particularly rice and sugarcane: entire rice fields were flooded to a depth of several feet, and much of the sugarcane crop was flattened by strong winds. In the Bayou Teche country, the hurricane blew down numerous outbuildings, unroofed numerous homes, and destroyed some large dwellings and churches. After the storm, growers estimated that 30–60% of the rice crop sustained damage. In many areas at least one-third of the
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
was downed. In the Mid-Atlantic region and southern New England, the storm produced gale-force winds and heavy rainfall, washing out numerous railroad bridges and tracks. Strong winds reached in
Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...
, and in
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
. The winds blew down awnings, signs, and tree branches. In
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
and
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, the cyclone spawned numerous
tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
es—five of which were "significant" (F2 or greater) on the Fujita scale—that killed at least 12 people. One or more tornadoes may have hit
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and
Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...
in
Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...
, north of
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, destroying a church, a dwelling, and a
blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
's shop. Winds downed large
oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
trees, "shattering a car" in the county. One tornado caused a large cannery, two stories tall, to collapse, killing 10 people under mounds of debris near Still Pond, Maryland.


References


Bibliography

* * *{{citation, last1=Grazulis, first1=Thomas P., year=1993, title=Significant Tornadoes 1680–1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events, publisher=The Tornado Project of Environmental Films, isbn=1-879362-03-1 L L L L L L 1888 in Louisiana 1888 natural disasters 1888 meteorology