1934 Central America hurricane

1934 Central America hurricane

Surface weather analysis of the hurricane approaching Louisiana on June 16
Meteorological history
Formed	June 4, 1934 (1934-06-04)
Dissipated	June 21, 1934 (1934-06-22)
Category 2 hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds	100 mph (155 km/h)
Lowest pressure	966 mbar (hPa); 28.53 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities	At least 506 in Central America, 10 in the U.S.
Damage	$9.46 million (1934 USD)
Areas affected	British Honduras, Central America (especially Honduras and El Salvador), Mexico, East Coast of the United States (particularly Louisiana and Mississippi), Atlantic Canada
IBTrACS
Part of the 1934 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1934 Central America hurricane (called the El Salvador hurricane by meteorologist Ivan Ray Tannehill)^[1] was a deadly tropical cyclone during the 1934 Atlantic hurricane season which caused at least 506 fatalities in Central America. Its peak strength, attained while in the Gulf of Mexico, was equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane on the modern Saffir–Simpson scale. The storm's path was erratic, beginning in the Gulf of Honduras on June 4 shortly before making its first landfall in British Honduras as a tropical storm. It then took a looping course through Guatemala before reemerging into the Gulf of Honduras on June 8. The storm struck the northeastern Yucatán Peninsula as a hurricane on June 9, crossing into the western Gulf of Mexico where its course made another loop. An accelerated northward course followed, leading to the hurricane's landfall along the Louisiana coast on June 16. It weakened over land and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on June 18, accelerating northeast towards the Canadian Maritimes thereafter.

The storm's slow track over Central America between June 5–8 led to copious rainfall and triggered deadly floods; El Salvador and Honduras suffered most among Central American countries. Rainfall totals exceeded 25 in (640 mm) in some areas. Fourteen rivers in El Salvador rose above their banks. Entire villages in El Salvador were destroyed by the floods, with damage extensive in the country's interior and along its Pacific coast. Communications with El Salvador were downed for 36 hours. Extensive damage to crops and infrastructure occurred in and around San Salvador, where at least 2,000 people may have perished; property damage totaled $2 million (1934 USD) in the city. The hurricane was especially deadly in Honduras, primarily west and north of Tegucigalpa. In Ocotepeque, torrential rainfall caused a landslide that formed a natural dam, allowing floodwater to accumulate behind it. The dam failed on June 7, and the resulting debris flow downstream destroyed most of Ocotepeque and killed an estimated 468 people. The Yucatán Peninsula's sparse population mitigated significant damage when the hurricane struck Quintana Roo on June 9, though crops were impacted between Progreso and Payo Obispo.

Much of the shores of the Gulf of Mexico were affected by the hurricane due to its erratic path. High winds and coastal floods stemming from swells generated by the storm reached Tamaulipas and Brazos Island along the western extents of Gulf of Mexico, while a stationary front tapped into moisture from the storm to produce heavy rainfall across southern Georgia and Florida. The worst of the hurricane's impacts associated with its landfall in Louisiana were caused by the storm's rainbands that raked across Louisiana and Mississippi ahead of the hurricane's center. Six people were killed in Louisiana and four were killed in Mississippi. Approximately 3,000–7,000 homes were damaged in Louisiana. The storm continued to produce high winds and flooding rainfall as it tracked northeast across the Mid-Atlantic states and into Canada, causing power outages and property damage.