1887 19/11/2

[gatorcane]

We hear alot about years such as 1933 and 2005 as far as active years are concerned, but we don't hear much about 1887 which had 19 systems, 11 of which were hurricanes, but strangely only 2 major hurricanes.

To put this in perspective for example, 1887 is only 2 storms shy of 1933's highly active 21 storm season. The 2005 season saw 28 storms (some of which would not have been classified back in the 1800s) so as far as I am concerned 2005 is along the lines of 1887 and 1933 from an activity perspective.

What I also wonder is why is it that every so often we see a year of explosive storm development such as 1887, 1933, and 2005 -- what is causing such an anomaly?

[Ptarmigan]

I actually think 1887 was just as active was 1933 and 2005. In fact, 1886 and 1887 almost parallel that of 2004 and 2005. They were all during Neutral ENSO. I know the 2005 season the monsoon was over the Caribbean, which help spin up many storms in the Caribbean, which many formed. 2004 had many Cape Verde, while in 2005, many formed closer to home.

[HURAKAN]

You can see how the lack of information could have missed a few storms.

[KWT]

I think you could also add 1916 and 1995 into that list of very active seasons, those five seasons are the ones that really stand out!

[wxman57]

We hear alot about years such as 1933 and 2005 as far as active years are concerned, but we don't hear much about 1887 which had 19 systems, 11 of which were hurricanes, but strangely only 2 major hurricanes.

The only way to identify a major hurricane back then was if it hit a land area that had some instruments to measure the wind field. There was no way to accurately identify wind speeds of hurricanes at sea.

And with limited ship traffic out in the eastern Atlantic, a number of storms were likely missed, including many short-lived ones. In a Chris Landsea presentation, he tracks the number of short-lived TCs (36 hrs or less) from the 1800s to present. There were virtually none up until the mid 20th century, then an explosion of short-lived TCs with modern satellite and recon.

[gatorcane]

We hear alot about years such as 1933 and 2005 as far as active years are concerned, but we don't hear much about 1887 which had 19 systems, 11 of which were hurricanes, but strangely only 2 major hurricanes.

The only way to identify a major hurricane back then was if it hit a land area that had some instruments to measure the wind field. There was no way to accurately identify wind speeds of hurricanes at sea.

And with limited ship traffic out in the eastern Atlantic, a number of storms were likely missed, including many short-lived ones. In a Chris Landsea presentation, he tracks the number of short-lived TCs (36 hrs or less) from the 1800s to present. There were virtually none up until the mid 20th century, then an explosion of short-lived TCs with modern satellite and recon.

Yes, I can definitely see how technology helped with that explosion. With that said, I do wonder if there were years more active than 2005 such as 1887 where many systems could have been missed out in the far Atlantic.