1887 Atlantic hurricane season

1887 Atlantic hurricane season
Season summary map
Seasonal boundaries
First system formedMay 15, 1887
Last system dissipatedDecember 12, 1887
Strongest storm
NameSeven
 • Maximum winds125 mph (205 km/h)
(1-minute sustained)
 • Lowest pressure952 mbar (hPa; 28.11 inHg)
Seasonal statistics
Total depressions19
Total storms19
Hurricanes11
Major hurricanes
(Cat. 3+)		2
Total fatalities41+ total
Total damage> $1.52 million (1887 USD)
Atlantic hurricane seasons
1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889

The 1887 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record at the time in terms of the number of known tropical storms that had formed, with 19. This total has since been equaled or surpassed multiple times. The 1887 season featured five off-season storms, with tropical activity occurring as early as May, and as late as December. Eleven of the season's storms attained hurricane status, while two of those became major hurricanes.[nb 1] It is also worthy of note that the volume of recorded activity was documented largely without the benefit of modern technology.[2] Consequently, tropical cyclones during this era that did not approach populated areas or shipping lanes, especially if they were relatively weak and of short duration, may have remained undetected. Thus, historical data on tropical cyclones from this period may not be comprehensive, with an undercount bias of zero to four per year between 1886 and 1910 estimated.[3] The first system was initially observed on May 15 near Bermuda, while the final storm dissipated on December 12 over Costa Rica.

Of the known 1887 cyclones, the first and third were first documented in 1996 by José Fernández-Partagás and Henry F. Diaz. They also proposed large alterations to the known tracks of several of the other 1887 storms. Later, the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project lengthened the tracks of the sixth and fifteen storms and upgraded the latter to a hurricane, although they did not add or remove any cyclones from the official hurricane database (HURDAT). In 2014, climate researcher Michael Chenoweth's reanalysis study recommended the removal of three storms and the addition of eight new systems to HURDAT, for a total of 24 cyclones in the 1887 season.

Only a few of the storms during the 1887 season did not impact land. The fourth system caused one death and more than $1.5 million (1887 USD) in damage,[nb 2] mostly due to flooding in the Southeastern United States. The next three hurricanes all passed offshore Newfoundland over a two-week period, together causing at least ten deaths. Next, the ninth system drowned 14 sailors and caused significant impacts over southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. Six tropical storm formed in October, among the most ever recorded during that month. At least $10,000 in damage occurred in Louisiana due to the thirteenth storm, while the sixteenth cyclone inflicted at least $7,000 in damage after sinking a ship and drowned two people after another vessel capsized. The season's nineteenth and final system resulted in 15 deaths across the Caribbean Sea.

  1. ^ North Atlantic Hurricane Basin (1851-2023) Comparison of Original and Revised HURDAT. Hurricane Research Division; Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (Report). Miami, Florida: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. May 2024. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  2. ^ Mudd, Brian (May 31, 2020). "Rewind: What 1887 & 2012 have in common with 2020's hurricane season". WJNO. West Palm Beach, Florida. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  3. ^ Landsea, Christopher W. (2004). "The Atlantic hurricane database re-analysis project: Documentation for the 1851–1910 alterations and additions to the HURDAT database". In Murname, Richard J.; Liu, Kam-biu (eds.). Hurricanes and Typhoons: Past, Present and Future. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 177–221. ISBN 0-231-12388-4.


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