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1898 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1898 Atlantic hurricane season marked the beginning of the Weather Bureau operating a network of observation posts across the Caribbean Sea to track tropical cyclones, established primarily due to the onset of the Spanish–American War. A total of eleven tropical storms formed, five of which intensified into a hurricane, according to HURDAT, the National Hurricane Center's official database. Further, one cyclone strengthened into a major hurricane. 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 and zero to four per year between 1886 and 1910 has been estimated. The first system was initially observed on August 2 near West End in the Bahamas, while the eleventh and final storm dissipated on November 4 over the Mexican state of Veracruz.

Season summary
ImageSize = width:800 height:200 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20 Legend = columns:3 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:270 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/08/1898 till:01/12/1898 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/08/1898 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:GP value:red id:TD value:rgb(0.43,0.76,0.92) legend:Tropical_Depression_=_≤38_mph_(≤62_km/h) id:TS value:rgb(0.3,1,1) legend:Tropical_Storm_=_39–73_mph_(63–117_km/h) id:C1 value:rgb(1,1,0.85) legend:Category_1_=_74–95_mph_(118–153_km/h) id:C2 value:rgb(1,0.85,0.55) legend:Category_2_=_96–110_mph_(154–177_km/h) id:C3 value:rgb(1,0.62,0.35) legend:Category_3_=_111–129_mph_(178–208_km/h) id:C4 value:rgb(1,0.45,0.54) legend:Category_4_=_130–156_mph_(209–251_km/h) id:C5 value:rgb(0.55,0.46,0.90) legend:Category_5_=_≥157_mph_(≥252_km/h) Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:Month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:10 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:02/08/1898 till:03/08/1898 color:C1 text:"One (C1)" from:31/08/1898 till:01/09/1898 color:C1 text:"Two (C1)" from:03/09/1898 till:05/09/1898 color:C1 text:"Three (C1)" from:05/09/1898 till:20/09/1898 color:C2 text:"Four (C2)" from:12/09/1898 till:22/09/1898 color:TS text:"Five (TS)" from:20/09/1898 till:28/09/1898 color:TS text:"Six (TS)" from:25/09/1898 till:06/10/1898 color:C4 text:"Seven (C4)" barset:break from:25/09/1898 till:28/09/1898 color:TS text:"Eight (TS)" from:02/10/1898 till:14/10/1898 color:TS text:"Nine (TS)" from:21/10/1898 till:23/10/1898 color:TS text:"Ten (TS)" from:27/10/1898 till:04/11/1898 color:TS text:"Eleven (TS)" barset:break bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/08/1898 till:31/08/1898 text:August from:01/09/1898 till:30/09/1898 text:September from:01/10/1898 till:31/10/1898 text:October from:01/11/1898 till:30/11/1898 text:November TextData = pos:(570,30) text:"(From the" pos:(618,30) text:"Saffir–Simpson scale)" , as a result of the seventh cyclone The Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT) officially recognizes that eleven tropical cyclones formed during the 1898 season, five of which strengthened into a hurricane, with one of those intensifying into a major hurricane. The Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project did not add or remove any storms from the 1996 reanalysis of the season by meteorologists José Fernández-Partagás and Henry F. Diaz. The track for the first observed storm begins near Grand Bahama in the Bahamas on August 2. Moving west-northwestward to northwestward, the cyclone struck Florida twice before dissipating over Alabama on the following day. After four weeks of no activity, another system was detected on August 30 off the east coast of Florida. Striking South Carolina, the storm crossed into Georgia before also dissipating over Alabama on September 1. September became the most active month of the season, with six known systems developing. This included the seventh storm of the season, the strongest in the Atlantic in 1898, peaking as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 130 mph (215 km/h) and a barometric pressure of . The storm also remains the most recent to make landfall in Georgia at major hurricane intensity. Three additional systems, all tropical storms, formed in October, with the third dissipating over Mexico by November 4. Overall, the cyclones of the 1898 season caused more than $4.4 million in damage and 486–637 deaths. In April 1898, the United States declared war on Spain, marking the beginning of the Spanish–American War, after the USS Maine capsized in Havana Harbor on February 15. Due to the increased presence of American vessels in the Caribbean Sea as a result of the war, Weather Bureau head Willis L. Moore convinced President William McKinley to authorize the establishment of weather observation posts throughout the region. Following approval from President McKinley and Congress, the Weather Bureau quickly constructed five sites, with a central location at Kingston, Jamaica, and the others at Santiago de Cuba, Cuba; Willemstad, Curaçao; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The season's activity was reflected with an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) rating of 113. ACE is a metric used to express the energy used by a tropical cyclone during its lifetime. Therefore, a storm with a longer duration will have higher values of ACE. It is only calculated at six-hour increments in which specific tropical and subtropical systems are either at or above sustained wind speeds of , which is the threshold for tropical storm intensity. Thus, tropical depressions are not included here. == Systems ==
Systems
Hurricane One According to the Weather Bureau, a "feeble disturbance" developed into a tropical storm near West End in the Bahamas early on August 2. Three hours later, the storm made landfall in Hobe Sound, Florida, with winds of 40 mph (65 km/h). The system briefly weakened to a tropical depression on August 2, before re-strengthening into a tropical storm and emerging into the Gulf of Mexico near Tarpon Springs. Later that day, the cyclone intensified quickly, becoming a Category 1 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale at 23:00 UTC. Simultaneously, the hurricane made a second Florida landfall on St. George Island with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), an intensity estimated mainly based on the severity of damage in the area. About 24 hours of heavy rainfall was observed in the Tampa area, which the Morning Tribune noted caused "great damage ... in many places." In the Florida Panhandle, considerable impact was inflicted to crops, turpentine farms, and property. Offshore, three barges, four tugboats, and many sailing crafts sank. Among the capsized vessels was the tugboat Nimrod, with 12 people aboard, all of whom drowned. Climate researcher Michael Chenoweth's reanalysis, published in 2014, suggests that the storm did not become a tropical storm until reaching the Gulf of Mexico, but did not propose any other significant changes. Around 07:00 UTC on August 31, the hurricane made landfall at the south end of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The cyclone weakened to a tropical storm about five hours later and then curved westward. Late on September 1, the storm weakened to a tropical depression and dissipated over Alabama. Severe damage occurred near the storm's point of landfall, with sustained winds of at Tybee Island, Georgia. with a storm total of . Overall, the storm caused approximately $400,000 in damage, nearly all in Savannah and at nearby rice plantations. Chenoweth argued that this storm developed as a tropical depression on August 29 just north of the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas and weakened slower over the Southeastern United States, dissipating over Tennessee on September 2. Later, waves waterlogged the America and eventually caused it to capsize, but the Marengo rescued the crew. The storm moved northeastward and was last encountered by the brig Iddesleigh on September 5, Saint Vincent also experienced significant impact, especially on the west side of the island. Windward Islands governor Cornelius Alfred Moloney noted that "From Buccamont to Kingstown ... everything is destroyed." A telegraph between British government officials stated that the storm destroyed 2,000 dwellings and damaged numerous others, leaving roughly 15,000 people homeless, though a report authored by T. A. Carpenter and published in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society reported 6,000 homes demolished or damaged beyond repair and raised the number of persons rendered homeless to about 20,000. The National Hurricane Center estimated in 1996 that this hurricane caused 283 to 383 fatalities, with 200 and 300 fatalities on Saint Vincent and 83 deaths on Barbados. However, this excludes 18 deaths on Guadeloupe and another after a crew member of a ship was swept overboard over the open Atlantic. According to Chenoweth's reanalysis study, this cyclone did not form until September 9. The storm also had two stints as a major hurricane, first while passing through the Lesser Antilles and later on September 18 and September 19, before dissipating east of Newfoundland on the next day; the storm peaked with winds of 120 mph (195 km/h) each time. In Lake Charles, rains flooded streets and caused losses to rice crops, while winds downed many telephone poles. Similarly, the town of Jennings noted damage to rice crops, with losses totaling "many thousands", according to The Times-Democrat. Farther east, New Orleans reported sustained winds up to . Elsewhere, winds and precipitation from the storm and its remnants spread across parts of the Mississippi Valley and Eastern United States. At the former, a Weather Bureau observer considered the 48-hour rainfall amount of to be unprecedent when compared to the then-19 years of records at that location. Some homes in Pensacola reported floodwaters reaching as high as above the floor. Nearby, the ship Bellevue capsized at a Perdido Key wharf. In Louisiana, precipitation generated by the storm flooded several streets in New Orleans. Similar to the previous cyclone, the track for this storm is not started by Chenoweth until it is over the west-central Gulf of Mexico on September 27, but otherwise proposes only minor alterations to the system's path, duration, and intensity. Though only minor impacts occurred in Jacksonville, the city lost communications with areas farther north. Nearby, Jacksonville Beach (then known as Pablo Beach) and Mayport reported damage due to storm surge. Farther north, storm surge may have reached in height in Fernandina Beach, flooding much of the town. Damage in Florida was conservatively estimated at $500,000. Overall, the storm caused significant damage amounting to around $1.5 million, Chenoweth's reanalysis initiates the track for this storm north of Puerto Rico on September 21. The storm had two stints as a major hurricane, the first from September 25 to September 28, with the cyclone peaking with winds of 145 mph (230 km/h) on September 27. Additionally, Chenoweth argued that the system passed over portions of the eastern Bahamas while at peak intensity, and later transitioned into an extratropical cyclone over Lake Erie on October 5. According to Chenoweth, however, damage ascribed to this storm in the Bahamas was actually related to the previous hurricane, which he places near Eleuthera and Great Abaco Island during this timeframe as a Category 4 hurricane. Eight people in the area drowned, along with numerous cattle. In Florida, squalls and rough seas impacted at least the vicinity of Miami. Two people went missing from Lemon City (now the Miami neighborhood of Little Haiti) after their boat sank in a wave, but were later rescued. The storm moved almost due west, passing through the northern Leeward Islands and then just south of Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and Jamaica before making landfall at Ambergris Caye, British Honduras, with winds of 50 mph (85 km/h) on November 3. The system weakened as it continued westward over Mexico and dissipated on the following day near Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. Fernández-Partagás and Diaz noted that "Very little information was found about this storm" and expressed "skepticism regarding the existence and evolution of this storm". On September 2, the next unofficial system formed over the southwestern Caribbean. The storm moved northwestward and attained hurricane status within 24 hours. It then turned west-northwestward and struck Belize (then known as British Honduras) late on September 4, before reaching the Gulf of Mexico the next day. The storm moved northwestward to north-northwestward and appeared to threaten Texas before curving east-northeastward on September 8. The cyclone then curved northwestward on September 10, two days before making landfall near Abbeville, Louisiana, and quickly dissipating. Chenoweth theorized that a tropical depression developed near the Cabo Verde Islands on September 29. The cyclone strengthened into a tropical storm on the next day and moved parabolically across the eastern Atlantic until dissipating south of the Azores on October 8. The final unofficial system formed well east of Bermuda on November 8. Initially a tropical depression, it became a subtropical storm but then a fully tropical storm late the following day while moving slowly northwestward. The storm then executed a small cyclonic loop before becoming extratropical late on November 14. ==Season effects==
Season effects
This is a table of all of the known storms that have formed in the 1898 Atlantic hurricane season. It includes their duration, landfall, damages, and death totals. Deaths in parentheses are additional and indirect (an example of an indirect death would be a traffic accident), but were still related to that storm. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical, a wave, or a low, and all of the damage figures are in 1898 USD. == See also ==
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