| 1874 Atlantic hurricane season | |
|---|---|
 Season summary map | |
| Seasonal boundaries | |
| First system formed | July 2, 1874 |
| Last system dissipated | November 4, 1874 |
| Strongest storm | |
| Name | Seven |
| • Maximum winds | 100 mph (155 km/h) (1-minute sustained) |
| Seasonal statistics | |
| Total depressions | 7 |
| Total storms | 7 |
| Hurricanes | 4 |
| Total fatalities | 6 |
| Total damage | > $175,000 (1874 USD) |
The 1874 Atlantic hurricane season featured the first hurricane to be recorded on a weather map by the United States Signal Service (the present-day National Weather Service). It was a relatively inactive season, in which seven tropical cyclones developed. Four storms intensified into hurricanes, but none attained major hurricane status.[nb 1] However, in the absence of modern satellite and other remote-sensing technologies, only storms that affected populated land areas or encountered ships at sea were recorded, so the actual total could be higher. An undercount bias of zero to six tropical cyclones per year between 1851 and 1885 and zero to four per year between 1886 and 1910 has been estimated.[2]
Of the known cyclones, large alterations were made to the tracks of third and seventh systems in 1995 by José Fernández-Partagás and Henry Díaz, who also proposed smaller changes to the known track of sixth system. Neither Fernández-Partagás and Díaz nor the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project introduced any previously undocumented tropical cyclones during their reanalyses of the 1874 season. Another reanalysis study, authored by climate researcher Michael Chenoweth and published in 2014, theorizes that seven cyclones formed. Chenoweth proposes the removal of the first and fifth storms from the official hurricane database (HURDAT), as well as the addition of two new storms. However, these changes have yet to be incorporated into HURDAT.
The first storm of the season was initially observed over the eastern Gulf of Mexico on July 2. Most of the systems directly impacted land. A tropical storm that developed in the Bay of Campeche during the month of September killed one person and caused significant damage in northeastern Mexico and south Texas after striking Tamaulipas and moving northward. The sixth storm of the season, and also the third hurricane, struck Florida as a Category 1 hurricane before making a second landfall in South Carolina at the same intensity in late September. This cyclone inflicted at least $100,000 (1874 USD) in damage to rice crops in the Savannah area of Georgia alone.[nb 2] The seventh, final, and strongest system of the season developed in the Caribbean Sea on October 31, and made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 2 hurricane, causing at least five fatalities and $75,000 in damage there. After striking eastern Cuba and the Bahamas as a tropical storm, the storm was last sighted to the north of the latter on November 4, as a Category 1 hurricane.
- ^ North Atlantic Hurricane Basin (1851-2023) Comparison of Original and Revised HURDAT. Hurricane Research Division; Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (Report). Miami, Florida: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. May 2024. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
- ^ Landsea, Christopher W. (2004). "The Atlantic hurricane database re-analysis project: Documentation for the 1851–1910 alterations and additions to the HURDAT database". In Murname, Richard J.; Liu, Kam-biu (eds.). Hurricanes and Typhoons: Past, Present and Future. New York City, New York: Columbia University Press. p. 195. ISBN 0-231-12388-4. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
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