Category 5 Hurricanes Before 1928 Lake Okeechobee Hurricane

[Ptarmigan]

The 1928 Lake Okeechobee Hurricane was the first Category 5 hurricane to be recorded. However, there were likely other Category 5 hurricanes that either never hit land, was a Category 5 over water and weakened over time before landfall, Category 5, but never got recorded, or anemometer got destroyed. Here is what I personally think are likely candidates for Category 5 hurricanes before 1928.

1886 Indianola Hurricane
1893 Chenier Caminanda Hurricane
1899 Hurricane San Ciriaco
1926 Hurricane #4
1926 Great Miami Hurricane

In 1893, two hurricanes hit Lousiana and one of them went over New Orleans before the Chenier Caminanda Hurricane. If there are any more hurricanes I can think of, I will add later. Hurricane Ethel is unlikely a Category 5 due to its lowest pressure being around 981 mb, which would make it a Category 1 to 2, or possibly a 3 hurricane.

DISCLAIMER: This is what I think. This is not to be taken as official by anyone.

[jdray]

There are tons of them from before 1900 that are estimated @ 940mb or lower.

We will never know on those.

[Hurricanehink]

I would guess the Great Havana Hurricane of 1846 was one. Per the Wikipedia article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hava ... ne_of_1846 - it had a pressure of 902 mbar. Also, the 1837 Racer's Storm might have, IMO.

[Ptarmigan]

I would guess the Great Havana Hurricane of 1846 was one. Per the Wikipedia article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hava ... ne_of_1846 - it had a pressure of 902 mbar. Also, the 1837 Racer's Storm might have, IMO.

The Great Havana Hurricane of 1846 is defintely a 5, comparable to Katrina. It also formed in the Caribbean, likely where Mitch and Wilma formed. Racer's Storm of 1837 affected Texas in early October. New Orleans was also flooded by this hurricane. Lake Ponchartrain rose by 8 feet, in which New Orleans got 1 to 2 feet of water. At the time, New Orleans was just confined to the Mississippi River. I believe Katrina caused Lake Ponchartrain to raise by 6 feet. Major hurricanes have affected Texas in October, last one in 1949. Could happen this year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1837_Racer's_Storm