Anniversary of Hurricane San Ciriaco (1899)

[cycloneye]

San Ciriaco was a very powerful hurricane that caused over 3,000 deaths in Puerto Rico when it moved thru on the 8th of August of 1899.It had a ACE of 73.6.Read all the details of this hurricane that after hitting Puerto Rico,moved very close to South Florida.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_San_Ciriaco

[Category 5]

A very overlooked Hurricane, it holds several major records and a storm like this today would be chaos.

[Scorpion]

Wow imagine if that happened today.. the board would literally explode.

[Mecklenburg]

Wow imagine if that happened today.. the board would literally explode.

though nowhere as the strength of Isabel or Katrina, but i'm really impressed by it's persistence and usual track....


but i think so point in it's lifespan it did managed to reach a Cat. 5 strength since storm-tracking was so obsolete back then...

[Ptarmigan]

I think Hurricane San Ciriaco was a Category 5 at one point.

[cycloneye]

I think Hurricane San Ciriaco was a Category 5 at one point.

The peak intensity was 150 mph just before it made landfall in Puerto Rico.You can read the history of this devastating hurricane in the link posted at the first post.

[Mecklenburg]

I think Hurricane San Ciriaco was a Category 5 at one point.

The peak intensity was 150 mph just before it made landfall in Puerto Rico.You can read the history of this devastating hurricane in the link posted at the first post.

i think, since weathermen we're so inaccurate at those time... it might have been a category 5 for six hours only and left unnoticed...

[KWT]

Yeah if it made landfall at 150mph there probably was a fair chance it was a category-5 at one point in its life but we've no real evidence either way.

[MiamiensisWx]

This TC was recently reanalyzed by the Hurricane Research Division. A barometer measured a central pressure of 930 mb on the island of Guadeloupe, and it was utilized to support a maximum intensity of ~130 kt (150 mph) over the Lesser Antilles. The southern pressure/wind relationship supports this estimate, since ambient pressures are often greater further south, when compared to the subtropical North Atlantic. In Puerto Rico, the central pressure at Guayama decreased to 940 mb as the local weather recording station entered the eye, so the TC filled slightly from Guadeloupe to Guayama. It still retained Category 4 winds of 120 kt (140 mph) at landfall on Puerto Rico. This TC was quite destructive in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, and Bahamas prior to its final landfall on eastern North Carolina as a Category 3 hurricane. Regarding the "Isabel/Katrina" comparison, a Category 3/4 hurricane is extremely intense, and a strong Category 1/2 TC is quite intense as well.

The 1899 TC was determined to have been the longest lived TC in the Atlantic hurricane records, tied with 1971's Ginger.

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/

[Cyclenall]

A very overlooked Hurricane, it holds several major records and a storm like this today would be chaos.

This comment could also apply to Hurricane Donna of 1960.

[Category 5]

A very overlooked Hurricane, it holds several major records and a storm like this today would be chaos.

This comment could also apply to Hurricane Donna of 1960.

It would apply to many Hurricanes IMO.

[CrazyC83]

I do agree it was probably a Category 5 at one point before reaching the Lesser Antilles.

[Honeyko]

I do agree it was probably a Category 5 at one point before reaching the Lesser Antilles.

Yeah; Hugo analog track.

[capepoint]

Even today San Ciriaco is remembered in North Carolina. It wrecked many ships on the coast, and caused the abandonment of several communities along the southern outer banks, as the people moved to the mainland. To be a cat 3, it caused devastation throughout eastern North Carolina. Not many storms cause entire communities to be forever abandoned anymore.

Donna is one of the local benchmarks now for severe hurricanes, along with Hazel. But the old timers still refer to what they were told about San Ciriaco.

[CrazyC83]

Even today San Ciriaco is remembered in North Carolina. It wrecked many ships on the coast, and caused the abandonment of several communities along the southern outer banks, as the people moved to the mainland. To be a cat 3, it caused devastation throughout eastern North Carolina. Not many storms cause entire communities to be forever abandoned anymore.

Donna is one of the local benchmarks now for severe hurricanes, along with Hazel. But the old timers still refer to what they were told about San Ciriaco.

I agree it had to be strong at that point. I think it was probably a Cat 4 off the coast east of Florida after clearing the Bahamas as well. Basically, think of what would have happened if Hugo ran into a stubborn ridge over the Appalachians (followed by a trough into the Atlantic).

[Honeyko]

I think it was probably a Cat 4 off the coast east of Florida after clearing the Bahamas as well. Basically, think of what would have happened if Hugo ran into a stubborn ridge over the Appalachians (followed by a trough into the Atlantic).

Hugo? Imagine Isabel's track, shifted to the west.

One of these days, Florida is going to get smacked good and hard by a fully mature cat-5 annular hurricane at maximum intensity prior to recurvature. The destruction will be like Andrew, but significantly more widespread.