The 1862 Atlantic hurricane season featured six

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 ...

s, with only one making

landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

. The season had three tropical storms and three hurricanes, none of which became major hurricanes. However, in the absence of modern satellite and other 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 has been estimated. Jose Fernandez-Partagas and Henry Diaz initially documented five tropical cyclones in a 1995 report on this season. A sixth system was added by Michael Chenoweth in 2003 from records taken in

Colón, Panama Colón () is a city and seaport in Panama, beside the Caribbean Sea, lying near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is the capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's second city. Originally it was l ...

. The first tropical cyclone was observed as a tropical storm offshore the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

from June 15 to June 17. The second and third systems were active in mid-August and mid-September, respectively, and both attained Category 2 intensity at their peaks on the modern-day Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale and neither made landfall. A fourth tropical cyclone caused flooding in

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

and brought heavy rain to parts of

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

on October 5, but its track prior to that date is unknown. The fifth hurricane was known to be active for a few days in October off the East Coast of the United States. Finally, a sixth system was centered near Panama – between November 22 and November 25. __TOC__

Timeline

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Systems

Tropical Storm One

Based on reports from four ships, a tropical storm is known to have existed for two days in mid-June off the East Coast of the United States. It formed approximately 340 miles (550 km) east of

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

on June 15 and moved slowly north before dissipating two days later, while located about 250 miles (400 km) east of

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

Hurricane Two

A Category 2 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale was first seen on August 18, while located approximately 620 miles (1,000 km) east of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Over the next three days, it tracked north and moved parallel to the

. The system dissipated roughly 310 miles (500 km) south of

Newfoundland 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 ...

on August 21.

Hurricane Three

On September 12, a Spanish ship, the ''Julian de Unsueta'', was de-masted by a strong gale and thrown onto its beam ends. A few days later, she docked at Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. On September 13, the

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts having the fore- and mainmasts Square rig, rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) Fore-and-aft rig, rigged fore and aft. Som ...

s ''Montezuma'' and ''Gazelle'' were also both de-masted by a hurricane near

. No information is available on the hurricane between September 14 to September 16, but on September 17, the barques ''Abbyla'' and ''Elias Pike'' encountered the hurricane, roughly 500 miles (800 km) off the coast of

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 So ...

. Several ships reported encountering hurricane conditions on September 19 off the East Coast of the United States, some as far north as

Sable Island Sable Island (french: île de Sable, literally "island of sand") is a small Canadian island situated southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and about southeast of the closest point of mainland Nova Scotia in the North Atlantic Ocean. The island i ...

. Based on these reports, the track began about 500 miles (800 km) northeast of the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Croix ...

on September 12 and ended on September 20 off the coast of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

Tropical Storm Four

On October 5, a tropical storm caused flooding in

. That day and throughout the next, high winds and heavy rain were observed in

Speightstown Speightstown (), also known as ''Little Bristol'', is the second largest City centre of Barbados. It is situated north of the capital city of Bridgetown, in the northern parish of Saint Peter. The City is named after William Speight, a member o ...

. The storm may also have affected Saint Vincent. No track has been identified for the storm and it has been assigned a single location in the

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 ...

database.

Hurricane Five

A modern-day Category 1 hurricane was first seen on October 14 approximately 310 miles (500 km) west of

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

. A schooner, ''Albert Treat'', encountered the storm and was thrown onto its beam ends. The schooner suffered considerable damage and three men drowned. The next day, further north, the barque ''Acacia'' fell onto its beam ends, but managed to reach safety. Throughout October 16 the hurricane traveled northward, parallel to the East Coast of the United States. The ship ''Oder'' reported losing its sails in a hurricane off

that day. The Confederate cruiser ''Alabama'' lost its main yard and several sails, torn to shreds in the wind, and had two boats smashed. The storm became

extratropical Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...

around midday on October 16 and dissipated completely by October 17.

Tropical Storm Six

Based on meteorological records kept by an officer of the U.S. steamer ''James Adger'', a strong tropical storm was centered to the northwest of Aspinwall, Panama from November 22 through to November 25. The storm weakened late on November 24 and began drifting slowly westward on November 25 before dissipating later that day.

Notes

References

{{Tropical cyclone season, 1862 Atlantic hurricane seasons 1860s Atlantic hurricane seasons Articles which contain graphical timelines 1862 natural disasters 1862 meteorology