1875 Atlantic hurricane season

1875 Atlantic hurricane season
Season summary map
Seasonal boundaries
First system formedAugust 16, 1875
Last system dissipatedOctober 16, 1875
Strongest storm
NameThree
 • Maximum winds115 mph (185 km/h)
(1-minute sustained)
 • Lowest pressure960 mbar (hPa; 28.35 inHg)
Seasonal statistics
Total storms6
Hurricanes5
Major hurricanes
(Cat. 3+)
1
Total fatalities~800
Total damage$5 million (1875 USD)
Atlantic hurricane seasons
1873, 1874, 1875, 1876, 1877

The 1875 Atlantic hurricane season featured three landfalling tropical cyclones. 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.[1] There were five recorded hurricanes and one major hurricane – Category 3 or higher on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson scale.[2]

Reanalysis of the season for HURDAT – the official database for Atlantic tropical cyclones – was completed by 2011.[3] Of the known 1875 cyclones, both the first and fifth cyclones were first documented in 1995 by Jose Fernandez-Partagas and Henry Diaz. They also proposed large changes to the known track of the sixth system and to the duration of the second storm, as well as more minor changes to the track of third cyclone.[4] The duration of the second system was further amended in 2008.[3]

Although three tropical cyclones made landfall, only one caused significant damage. The season's third known and strongest system, known as the Indianola hurricane, brought devastation to portions of the Lesser Antilles, Greater Antilles, and Texas. It is estimated that the hurricane caused about 800 fatalities, with approximately 300 in the city of Indianola, Texas, alone. The storm left over $5 million (1875 USD) in damage.

  1. ^ Christopher W. Landsea; et al. (2004). "The Atlantic hurricane database re-analysis project: Documentation for the 1851–1910 alterations and additions to the HURDAT database". Hurricanes and Typhoons: Past, Present and Future. New York City, New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 177–221. ISBN 0-231-12388-4.
  2. ^ Atlantic basin Comparison of Original and Revised HURDAT. Hurricane Research Division; Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (Report). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. April 2017. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Christopher W. Landsea; et al. Documentation of Atlantic Tropical Cyclones Changes in HURDAT. Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (Report). Miami, Florida: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  4. ^ Jose Fernández-Partagás and Henry F. Diaz (1995). A Reconstruction of Historical Tropical Cyclone Frequency in the Atlantic from Documentary and other Historical Sources 1851-1880 Part II: 1871-1880 (PDF). Climate Diagnostics Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved May 16, 2017. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)