| 1946 Atlantic hurricane season | |
|---|---|
 Season summary map | |
| Seasonal boundaries | |
| First system formed | June 13, 1946 |
| Last system dissipated | November 3, 1946 |
| Strongest storm | |
| Name | Four |
| • Maximum winds | 100 mph (155 km/h) (1-minute sustained) |
| • Lowest pressure | 975 mbar (hPa; 28.79 inHg) |
| Seasonal statistics | |
| Total depressions | 8 |
| Total storms | 7 |
| Hurricanes | 3 |
| Major hurricanes (Cat. 3+) | 0 |
| Total fatalities | 5 |
| Total damage | > $5.2 million (1946 USD) |
| Related articles | |
The 1946 Atlantic hurricane season resulted in no fatalities in the United States.[1] The season officially began on June 15, 1946, and lasted until November 15, 1946. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. However, the first storm, developed in the Gulf of Mexico on June 13, while the final system dissipated just offshore Florida on November 3. There were seven tropical storms; three of them attained hurricane status, while none intensified into major hurricanes, which are Category 3 or higher on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. This had not occurred since 1940 and would not again until 1968. Operationally, the fifth tropical storm, which existed near the Azores in early October, was not considered a tropical cyclone but was added to HURDAT in 2014.
Although every tropical storm impacted land, effects overall were light, with less than $10 million (1946 USD) in damage and no deaths in the United States throughout the season. The season's most intense cyclone was the fourth hurricane. While the storm was moving northeastward offshore the East Coast of the United States, the Norwegian tanker Maril II was destroyed at sea, causing 16 drownings; the incident could not be directly attributed to the hurricane. The second storm brought relatively minor damage to the Cape Fear region of North Carolina after striking the state early in its duration. While an extratropical cyclone, the remnants of the fifth cyclone devastated a few islands of the Azores and left 120 fishermen missing. The Florida hurricane severely damaged sugar cane in western Cuba and caused five deaths in the island nation. Additionally, the storm left $5.2 million in damage in Florida, mostly inflicting citrus crops. The final storm caused several millions of dollars in damage to crops near Lake Okeechobee.