1871 - Storm #3 a nightmare for the Southeast.

[Stormsfury]

http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atl ... /track.dat

That storm was shortly followed by this one.



http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atl ... /track.dat

[JetMaxx]

That was a wild August Mike...and the Georgia Coast was hammered by that first hurricane. With the 84-86° SST's off St Simons Island in mid-August, I wouldn't be surprised if that was a major landfalling hurricane (Savannah was badly damaged...Savannah Beach innundated by the storm surge).

[isobar]

Were those cat 2's at landfall, SF ?
You're so right Perry, wild August!

[Colin]

Wow... that's quite impressive, and that sure WAS a wild August! :o

[JetMaxx]

Donna, they have it estimated as a 90 kt (105 mph) cat-2 at landfall on the Unisys hurricane archive website....but in 1871 that category 2 rating is based on very sketchy information. I personally take those sustained wind and central pressure estimates before 1900 with a very large grain of salt.

For example, the powerful hurricane that slammed into the lower Georgia coast in early October of 1898 is rated as a cat-2 on the Unisys site....but an extensive re-examination of the evidence by meteorologists at the NWS office in Jacksonville, Florida a few years ago proved the hurricane was much stronger (produced a 19' storm surge on the Georgia Coast north of Darien...flooded downtown Brunswick 5-6' deep). It was more likely a powerful cat 3...borderline cat 4 with sustained winds of 125-130 mph and an estimated central pressure of 945 mb/ 27.91"--- or as intense as Betsy and Frederic were at landfall.

The catastrophic August 27-28, 1893 hurricane that killed over 2000 people along the Georgia and South Carolina Coast was likely a cat-4...based on known storm surge levels (Savannah Beach and Tybee Island were completely submerged...the storm tide was AT LEAST 17' feet!). --It was IMO a Hugo/Hazel intensity hurricane (sustained winds 135-140 mph).

God Bless,
Perry

[isobar]

Great info Perry, thanks! Looks like Andrew isn't the only one getting re-examined years later.
Man, the GA coast got clobbered in the 1890's! Such devastating loss of life.

[JetMaxx]

Yes Donna, and my great fear is that when history repeats itself...and someday it will -- a lot of complacent folks are going to drown...simply because it hasn't happened in so long, they don't think it can happen again

[Stormsfury]

Perry, you are SO RIGHT about the 1893 storm ... forecasters here at the Charleston NWS have that storm as a "likely" CAT 4 ... wind speeds were recorded at 125 mph at Beaufort, and 120 mph wind at Charleston ... Furthermore, a 13 ½ foot storm surge (photos on the Charleston NWS/WFO wall from the 1893 storm) crashed over the Battery Wall in Downtown Charleston ... and most of the deaths in that storm were Charlestonians ...

Another intense storm also hit Charleston just a little later to add insult to injury, and that same year, another deadly storm struck Louisiana and also estimated to have killed 1,000-2,000 people as well ... Besides 1998, 1893 is the only other season of record to have 4 concurrent hurricanes at the same time ...