1840s Atlantic hurricane seasons
Each season was an ongoing event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation in the Atlantic basin.
[1] In the middle of June, a tropical storm passed west of Lake Charles, Louisiana, accompanied by several days of heavy rain.
On an unspecified date in 1840, a hurricane reportedly caused severe flooding that destroyed entire villages at the mouth of the Rio Grande.
The storm wrecked the Georges Bank fishing fleet which drowned 81 fishermen and knocked down trees, tore roofs off houses and forced boats to go up on shore.
[14][15][9] [16] The 1842 Atlantic hurricane season featured several maritime catastrophes in the Gulf of Mexico and along the U.S. East Coast, and produced one of the only known tropical cyclones to directly affect the Iberian Peninsula.
As the season falls outside the scope of the Atlantic hurricane database, records of most storms in 1842 are scarce, and only approximate tracks are known.
[19] A tropical storm affected Northeastern Florida near Cedar Keys on August 2 and continued on to Jacksonville.
[21] A strong tropical storm started near Tobago and traveled into the Gulf of Mexico and hit Galveston on September 17.
The Florida Panhandle experienced the effects of a tropical storm, marked by gale-force winds at Pensacola on September 22 and 23.
[29] Hurricane originated north of the Leeward Islands and traveled northward out to sea near Nova Scotia.
It hit Port Leon, Florida, on September 13, destroying the town from the flooding and storm surge.
[32] A major hurricane moving through the Gulf of Mexico hit the Rio Grande valley on August 4.
It did not leave a house standing at the mouth of the river or the Brazos Santiago on the north end of the barrier island.
It moved across the state, emerging into the Gulf of Mexico before turning northeastward and hitting Florida again on the 9th.
[34] This hurricane destroyed most of what was left of the deserted town of St. Joseph, Gulf County, Florida.
[36] Storm originated near the southern Leeward Islands and headed past Jamaica to Key West.
It moved northeastward, bringing rain and strong winds to the United States coastline but remaining offshore.
On September 19, a gale, possibly a tropical cyclone, destroyed 11 schooners from Marblehead, Massachusetts, and took 65 lives.
In Cuba, the storm caused hundreds of deaths, capsized dozens of ships, obliterated buildings, uprooted trees, and ruined crops.
The hurricane was so destructive that years afterward, greenery on the key was sparse, and little native vegetation existed.
As it approached, it sucked the water out of the bay, causing the Manatee River to be so low that people walked horses across it.
It moved up the Chesapeake Bay, causing extensive damage through Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.
On August 18, a tropical storm hit south central Louisiana, causing damage to cotton crops.
[50] A hurricane tracked northeast of the Caribbean Sea through the Bahamas and recurved through the North Atlantic shipping lanes towards Europe between August 19 and September 2.
It reshaped parts of the coast and destroyed much of what few human works and habitation were then in the Tampa Bay Area.
Although available records of its wind speed are unavailable, its barometric pressure and storm surge were consistent with at least a Category 4 hurricane.
[59] An eastward moving major hurricane passing Cuba hit Tampa Bay again for the second time in less than a month on October 11 before heading northward into the Florida Panhandle.
On October 17, a minimal hurricane hit the southeast coast of Texas, causing flooding and high tides.
A tropical cyclone may have moved into the Arklatex, as there was excessive flooding in northern sections of Louisiana that August.
[61] One of the severest hurricanes and longest duration up to that time moved into the Rio Grande area on September 13 and 14.
