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1926 Miami hurricane
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1926 Miami hurricane
The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 was a large and intense tropical cyclone that devastated the Greater Miami area of Florida and caused catastrophic damage in the Bahamas and the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 1926, accruing a US$100 million damage toll. The devastation brought by the hurricane resulted in the end of Florida's land boom, and represented an early start to the Great Depression in the state. It has been estimated that a similar hurricane would cause about $235 billion in damage if it were to hit Miami in 2018.
The hurricane is believed to have formed in the central Atlantic Ocean on September 11. Steadily strengthening as it tracked west-northwestward, the storm reached hurricane intensity the next day. As a result of scattered observations at open sea, however, no ship encountered the storm until September 15, by which time it had reached major hurricane intensity north of the Virgin Islands. Strengthening continued up until the following day, when the storm reached peak intensity with a strength equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane. This intensity was maintained as the storm tracked across the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas to landfall near Miami on September 18.
The hurricane caused immense destruction throughout the islands and across southern Florida. The storm destroyed hundreds of structures in its path over the islands, leaving thousands of residents homeless. At least seventeen deaths occurred on the islands, though many others—some related only indirectly to the storm—were reported in the aftermath. Upon striking South Florida, the cyclone generated hurricane-force winds over a broad swath of the region, causing widespread and severe structural damage from both wind and water. Most of the deaths occurred near Lake Okeechobee, when a large storm surge breached muck dikes and drowned hundreds of people.
The hurricane quickly traversed the Florida peninsula before emerging into the Gulf of Mexico near Fort Myers. It flooded surrounding communities and barrier islands, while strong winds downed trees and disrupted electrical service. The storm later made two landfalls with weaker intensities on Alabama and Mississippi on September 20 and 21, respectively. It caused additional but less severe damage in those states, primarily from heavy rains and storm surge. Land interaction caused the cyclone to deteriorate and later dissipate on September 22.
Due to the sparseness of available observations in the central Atlantic, the specific origins of the 1926 Miami hurricane remain unclear. Operationally, the United States Weather Bureau in Washington, D.C., did not begin issuing advisories on the cyclone until September 14. However, the cyclone is first listed in HURDAT—the official Atlantic hurricane database—as having begun as a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (105 km/h) roughly 1,100 mi (1,800 km) east of the island of Martinique in the Lesser Antilles on September 11. Tracking west-northwestward, the storm gradually intensified and reached hurricane intensity on September 12 while still east of the Lesser Antilles. The observation of low barometric pressures and winds suggesting cyclonic rotation at Saint Kitts on the evening of September 14 was the first to suggest that a hurricane had developed. The following day, the steamship Matura encountered the strengthening tropical cyclone and documented a minimum pressure of 28.82 inHg (976 mb). By 06:00 UTC on September 15, the storm had strengthened further to major hurricane intensity north of the Virgin Islands.
Strengthening continued into September 16 as the hurricane reached a strength equivalent to that of a Category 4 on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Although no official minimum pressure readings were taken in the area at the time, the tropical cyclone peaked in wind-based intensity at 18:00 UTC on September 16 with sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h), near the uppermost limit of the modern-day ranking Category 4. With this strength the hurricane passed near the Turks and Caicos Islands, though its intensity at the time was based on the extent of damage there as any measurement device was knocked out by the damaging winds. Shortly afterward, the cyclone struck the Bahamian island of Mayaguana at its peak intensity. After passing the island, the hurricane slightly weakened but maintained formidable strength as it accelerated through the southern Bahamas, passing near Nassau on September 17. The storm then made a second landfall on Andros Island in the Mangrove Cay district early on September 18. Thereafter, the hurricane crossed Andros Island and passed over the Gulf Stream en route to Florida. This trajectory brought the storm ashore on the coast of South Florida near Perrine, located just 15 mi (24 km) south of Downtown Miami, before 12:00 UTC on September 18 with winds of 145 mph (233 km/h) and a minimum pressure estimated at 930 mb (27 inHg). At the time, the hurricane was very large in size, with a radius of outermost closed isobar 375 mi (604 km) across; hurricane-force winds were reported from the upper Florida Keys to near St. Lucie County. Around 20:30 UTC, the eye of the hurricane passed into the Gulf of Mexico near Punta Rassa; though by that time the pressure in the eye had only risen to 28.05 inHg (950 mb), the winds in the eye wall had decreased to 105 mph (169 km/h). The hurricane had weakened over South Florida as a result of land interaction, but re-strengthened after emerging into the Gulf of Mexico off Punta Rassa six hours later.
The warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico allowed for the tropical cyclone to reach a secondary peak intensity with winds of 125 mph (201 km/h) on September 20, equivalent to that of a modern-day high-end Category 3 hurricane. Although the storm had taken a more northwesterly course through the gulf, the hurricane later began paralleling the coast of the Florida Panhandle and thus slowly curved westward. As a result, the major hurricane, now weakening quickly, made its second landfall near Perdido Beach, Alabama, at around 21:30 UTC that day with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h). After landfall, the storm quickly weakened and meandered off Alabama's barrier islands, eventually moving ashore for the last time on September 21 near Gulfport, Mississippi, as a tropical storm. The cyclone continued its decay inland, degenerating into a tropical depression the following day before dissipating over Louisiana shortly thereafter.
On September 16, the United States Weather Bureau advised caution to ships tracking in Bahamian waters and the Florida Straits. The first tropical cyclone warning associated with the storm was a northeast storm warning issued on September 17 for the Florida coast from Jupiter Inlet to Key West, Florida. Warnings along the United States Eastern Seaboard eventually stretched as far north as Charleston, South Carolina, upon the storm's first landfall. Additional warnings were posted for the United States Gulf Coast on September 19 and covered coastal areas from Apalachicola, Florida, to Burrwood, Louisiana. Information on the storm as ascertained by the U.S. Weather Bureau was relayed by various radio and local press services, though the bureau specifically acknowledged the Mobile Register for their efforts in disseminating storm details.
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1926 Miami hurricane
The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 was a large and intense tropical cyclone that devastated the Greater Miami area of Florida and caused catastrophic damage in the Bahamas and the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 1926, accruing a US$100 million damage toll. The devastation brought by the hurricane resulted in the end of Florida's land boom, and represented an early start to the Great Depression in the state. It has been estimated that a similar hurricane would cause about $235 billion in damage if it were to hit Miami in 2018.
The hurricane is believed to have formed in the central Atlantic Ocean on September 11. Steadily strengthening as it tracked west-northwestward, the storm reached hurricane intensity the next day. As a result of scattered observations at open sea, however, no ship encountered the storm until September 15, by which time it had reached major hurricane intensity north of the Virgin Islands. Strengthening continued up until the following day, when the storm reached peak intensity with a strength equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane. This intensity was maintained as the storm tracked across the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas to landfall near Miami on September 18.
The hurricane caused immense destruction throughout the islands and across southern Florida. The storm destroyed hundreds of structures in its path over the islands, leaving thousands of residents homeless. At least seventeen deaths occurred on the islands, though many others—some related only indirectly to the storm—were reported in the aftermath. Upon striking South Florida, the cyclone generated hurricane-force winds over a broad swath of the region, causing widespread and severe structural damage from both wind and water. Most of the deaths occurred near Lake Okeechobee, when a large storm surge breached muck dikes and drowned hundreds of people.
The hurricane quickly traversed the Florida peninsula before emerging into the Gulf of Mexico near Fort Myers. It flooded surrounding communities and barrier islands, while strong winds downed trees and disrupted electrical service. The storm later made two landfalls with weaker intensities on Alabama and Mississippi on September 20 and 21, respectively. It caused additional but less severe damage in those states, primarily from heavy rains and storm surge. Land interaction caused the cyclone to deteriorate and later dissipate on September 22.
Due to the sparseness of available observations in the central Atlantic, the specific origins of the 1926 Miami hurricane remain unclear. Operationally, the United States Weather Bureau in Washington, D.C., did not begin issuing advisories on the cyclone until September 14. However, the cyclone is first listed in HURDAT—the official Atlantic hurricane database—as having begun as a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (105 km/h) roughly 1,100 mi (1,800 km) east of the island of Martinique in the Lesser Antilles on September 11. Tracking west-northwestward, the storm gradually intensified and reached hurricane intensity on September 12 while still east of the Lesser Antilles. The observation of low barometric pressures and winds suggesting cyclonic rotation at Saint Kitts on the evening of September 14 was the first to suggest that a hurricane had developed. The following day, the steamship Matura encountered the strengthening tropical cyclone and documented a minimum pressure of 28.82 inHg (976 mb). By 06:00 UTC on September 15, the storm had strengthened further to major hurricane intensity north of the Virgin Islands.
Strengthening continued into September 16 as the hurricane reached a strength equivalent to that of a Category 4 on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Although no official minimum pressure readings were taken in the area at the time, the tropical cyclone peaked in wind-based intensity at 18:00 UTC on September 16 with sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h), near the uppermost limit of the modern-day ranking Category 4. With this strength the hurricane passed near the Turks and Caicos Islands, though its intensity at the time was based on the extent of damage there as any measurement device was knocked out by the damaging winds. Shortly afterward, the cyclone struck the Bahamian island of Mayaguana at its peak intensity. After passing the island, the hurricane slightly weakened but maintained formidable strength as it accelerated through the southern Bahamas, passing near Nassau on September 17. The storm then made a second landfall on Andros Island in the Mangrove Cay district early on September 18. Thereafter, the hurricane crossed Andros Island and passed over the Gulf Stream en route to Florida. This trajectory brought the storm ashore on the coast of South Florida near Perrine, located just 15 mi (24 km) south of Downtown Miami, before 12:00 UTC on September 18 with winds of 145 mph (233 km/h) and a minimum pressure estimated at 930 mb (27 inHg). At the time, the hurricane was very large in size, with a radius of outermost closed isobar 375 mi (604 km) across; hurricane-force winds were reported from the upper Florida Keys to near St. Lucie County. Around 20:30 UTC, the eye of the hurricane passed into the Gulf of Mexico near Punta Rassa; though by that time the pressure in the eye had only risen to 28.05 inHg (950 mb), the winds in the eye wall had decreased to 105 mph (169 km/h). The hurricane had weakened over South Florida as a result of land interaction, but re-strengthened after emerging into the Gulf of Mexico off Punta Rassa six hours later.
The warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico allowed for the tropical cyclone to reach a secondary peak intensity with winds of 125 mph (201 km/h) on September 20, equivalent to that of a modern-day high-end Category 3 hurricane. Although the storm had taken a more northwesterly course through the gulf, the hurricane later began paralleling the coast of the Florida Panhandle and thus slowly curved westward. As a result, the major hurricane, now weakening quickly, made its second landfall near Perdido Beach, Alabama, at around 21:30 UTC that day with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h). After landfall, the storm quickly weakened and meandered off Alabama's barrier islands, eventually moving ashore for the last time on September 21 near Gulfport, Mississippi, as a tropical storm. The cyclone continued its decay inland, degenerating into a tropical depression the following day before dissipating over Louisiana shortly thereafter.
On September 16, the United States Weather Bureau advised caution to ships tracking in Bahamian waters and the Florida Straits. The first tropical cyclone warning associated with the storm was a northeast storm warning issued on September 17 for the Florida coast from Jupiter Inlet to Key West, Florida. Warnings along the United States Eastern Seaboard eventually stretched as far north as Charleston, South Carolina, upon the storm's first landfall. Additional warnings were posted for the United States Gulf Coast on September 19 and covered coastal areas from Apalachicola, Florida, to Burrwood, Louisiana. Information on the storm as ascertained by the U.S. Weather Bureau was relayed by various radio and local press services, though the bureau specifically acknowledged the Mobile Register for their efforts in disseminating storm details.
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