1850 Atlantic Hurricane Season
Information on older hurricane seasons is often incomplete. Prior to the advent of modern satellite technology many hurricanes that did not directly affect land went unreported, and storms that only affected sparsely populated areas on land may not have been recorded. Modern-day efforts to reconstruct the tracks of known hurricanes and to identify initially undetected storms from archive collections are continuing. In many cases, the only evidence that a hurricane existed are reports from ships in its path. However, judging by the direction of winds experienced by ships, and their location in relation to the storm, it is possible to roughly pinpoint the storm's center of circulation for a given point in time. This is the method used by hurricane expert José Fernández Partagás's for his reanalysis of hurricane seasons between 1851 and 1910. The information Partagás and his colleague uncovered was largely adopted, with some later adjustments, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Atlantic hurricane reanalysis in their updates to the Atlantic hurricane database, HURDAT. HURDAT is the official source for such hurricane data as track and intensity, although due to a sparsity of available records at the time the storms existed, listings on some storms are incomplete.[1] However, as the year 1850 falls outside of the scope of the HURDAT database, and was not included in Partagás original work, information on this year is particularly sparse and can not be considered complete.
Hurricane One
The first of three hurricanes to affect the upper Eastern Seaboard moved into North Carolina on July 18. Reports from Wilmington and Elizabeth City refer to a 'tremendous storm' and 'great damage'.[2] As it moved north, high waves and tides flooded coastal areas along Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay. The hurricane tracked almost due north into central New York state.[3]
Hurricane Two
The second known hurricane of 1850 hit North Carolina on August 24, sinking a pilot boat[4] and driving the schooner H.Wescott ashore at Cape Fear. A railroad bridge near Wilmington was destroyed by the storm.[2]
Hurricane Three
A powerful Gulf hurricane struck Apalachicola on the same day as the previous hurricane, causing a great storm surge along the northeast Gulf coast. As the system moved north, enormous amounts of rain fell between Georgia and Virginia. Major flooding occurred along numerous rivers. The Dan rose to a level twenty feet above normal. The cyclone continued northeast, causing damage throughout New England.[3]
Other storms
On June 27 a 'severe squall' at Matagorda Bay caused some damage to the town of Indianola. A ship, the Palmetto broke her moorings and was driven ashore and a lighter, the Jerry Smith, suffered extensive damage.[5]
See also
References
- ^ Hurricane Research Division (2008). "Documentation of Atlantic Tropical Cyclones Changes in HURDAT". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
- ^ a b Hudgins,James E. (2000). "Tropical cyclones affecting North Carolina since 1586 - An Historical Perspective" (PDF). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 22-7-2013.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ a b David Roth and Hugh Cobb. "Virginia Hurricane History". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
- ^ Edward N. Rappaport and Jose Fernandez-Partagas (1996). "The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492–1996: Cyclones that may have 25+ deaths". National Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2012-10-16.
- ^ David Roth (2010-02-04). "Texas Hurricane History" (PDF). National Weather Service. Retrieved 2011-06-22.