1851 Atlantic hurricane season

1851 Atlantic hurricane season
Season summary map
Seasonal boundaries
First system formedJune 25, 1851
Last system dissipatedOctober 19, 1851
Strongest storm
NameFour 
 • Maximum winds115 mph (185 km/h)
(1-minute sustained)
 • Lowest pressure961 mbar (hPa; 28.38 inHg)
Seasonal statistics
Total storms6
Hurricanes3
Major hurricanes
(Cat. 3+)
1
Total fatalities23 direct, 1 indirect
Total damage$60,000 (1851 USD)
Atlantic hurricane seasons
1840s, 1850, 1851, 1852, 1853

The 1851 Atlantic hurricane season was the first Atlantic hurricane season to be included in the official Atlantic tropical cyclone record.[1] Six known tropical cyclones occurred during the season, the earliest of which formed on June 25 and the latest of which dissipated on October 19. These dates fall within the range of most Atlantic tropical cyclone activity. None of the cyclones existed simultaneously with another. Three of the six storms only have a single point in their track known.

Two other hurricanes were reported during the season, one near Tampico and the other near Jamaica; however, they are not in the official hurricane database. There may have been other unconfirmed tropical cyclones during the season. Meteorologist Christopher Landsea estimates that between zero and six storms were missed from the official database, due to small tropical cyclone size, sparse ship reports, and relatively unpopulated coastlines.[2]

  1. ^ "Atlantic hurricane best track (HURDAT version 2)" (Database). United States National Hurricane Center. April 5, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2024. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ Chris Landsea (May 1, 2007). "Counting Atlantic Tropical Cyclones Back to 1900" (PDF). Eos. Vol. 88, no. 18. American Meteorological Society. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 14, 2007. Retrieved January 2, 2024.