The 1887 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record at the time in terms of the number of known tropical storms that had formed, with 19. This total has since been equaled or surpassed multiple times. The 1887 season featured five off-season storms, with tropical activity occurring as early as May, and as late as December. Eleven of the season's storms attained hurricane status, while two of those became major hurricanes. It is also worthy of note that the volume of recorded activity was documented largely without the benefit of modern technology. Consequently, tropical cyclones during this era that did not approach populated areas or shipping lanes, especially if they were relatively weak and of short duration, may have remained undetected. Thus, historical data on tropical cyclones from this period may not be comprehensive, with an undercount bias of zero to four per year between 1886 and 1910 estimated. The first system was initially observed on May 15 near Bermuda, while the final storm dissipated on December 12 over Costa Rica.
Of the known 1887 cyclones, the first and third were first documented in 1996 by José Fernández-Partagás and Henry F. Diaz. They also proposed large alterations to the known tracks of several of the other 1887 storms. Later, the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project lengthened the tracks of the sixth and fifteen storms and upgraded the latter to a hurricane, although they did not add or remove any cyclones from the official hurricane database (HURDAT). In 2014, climate researcher Michael Chenoweth's reanalysis study recommended the removal of three storms and the addition of eight new systems to HURDAT, for a total of 24 cyclones in the 1887 season.
Only a few of the storms during the 1887 season did not impact land. The fourth system caused one death and more than $1.5 million (1887 USD) in damage, mostly due to flooding in the Southeastern United States. The next three hurricanes all passed offshore Newfoundland over a two-week period, together causing at least ten deaths. Next, the ninth system drowned 14 sailors and caused significant impacts over southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. Six tropical storm formed in October, among the most ever recorded during that month. At least $10,000 in damage occurred in Louisiana due to the thirteenth storm, while the sixteenth cyclone inflicted at least $7,000 in damage after sinking a ship and drowned two people after another vessel capsized. The season's nineteenth and final system resulted in 15 deaths across the Caribbean Sea.
Season summary
The Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT) officially recognizes that 19 tropical cyclones formed during the 1887 season, 11 of which strengthened into a hurricane. Although both numbers set a record at the time, this activity has been surpassed or equaled many times, first in the 1933 season, which featured 20 tropical storms, while tying for the amount of hurricanes. Later, the 1969 season became the first to exceed the 1887 season's number of hurricanes, with 12. Currently, the seasonal records for most tropical storms is 30 and the most hurricanes is 15, set in 2020 and 2005, respectively. Five storms existed outside the modern-day boundaries of an Atlantic hurricane season – June 1 to November 30 – which is also a record.
The Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project did not add or remove any storms from the 1996 reanalysis of the season by meteorologists José Fernández-Partagás and Henry F. Diaz, who both added the first and third systems. However, the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project extended the tracks of the sixth and fifteenth systems and upgraded the fifteen storm to a hurricane. A more recent reanalysis by climate researcher Michael Chenoweth, published in 2014, adds eight storms and removes three – the sixteenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth – for a net gain of five cyclones, although these proposed changes have yet to be approved for inclusion to HURDAT. If approved, the season would feature 24 tropical storms, the third-most on record, behind only 2005 and 2020. Chenoweth's study utilizes a more extensive collection of newspapers and ship logs, as well as late 19th century weather maps for the first time, in comparison to previous reanalysis projects. Chenoweth's proposals have yet to be incorporated into HURDAT, however.
Activity began early, with a pair of tropical storms in May, the first of which was detected by the Orinoco, docked at Bermuda, on May 15. One system, another tropical storm, formed in June and caused some deaths and crop damage in Cuba, but only minor impacts along the Gulf Coast of the United States after striking Mississippi. Tropical cyclogenesis then ceased until mid-July, when a storm was detected near Barbados. The most significant effects of this system occurred in the Southeastern United States, where one death and about $1.5 million in agricultural damage alone occurred. Another tropical storm developed in July. August featured both of the season's major hurricanes, which followed similar paths, first being observed just east of the Leeward Islands, striking or passing close to the Bahamas, recurving to the northeast just offshore the Southeastern United States, and then approaching Atlantic Canada just prior to becoming extratropical. Both storms also caused multiple deaths. The second of the two peaked with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (205 km/h) and an atmospheric pressure of 952 mbar (28.1 inHg), making it the most intense cyclone of the season.
September had three cyclones, all of which became hurricanes. The first of the three resulted in seven fatalities due to maritime incidents over the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, while the second drowned fourteen sailors and caused significant impacts over southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. Six tropical storms formed in October, making it one of the most active Octobers on record. The season's thirteenth storm caused at least $10,000 in damage after destroying a grain elevator in Louisiana, while the sixteenth storm inflicted at least $7,000 in damage after sinking a ship and drowned two people after another vessel capsized. Activity then went dormant until late November, when the track for the seventeenth system storm began north of Puerto Rico. In December, two tropical storms developed, with the second one dissipating on December 12 after striking Costa Rica. Fifteen deaths occurred across the Caribbean Sea. Because of these two storms and the seventeenth system lasting until at least early December, the season also featured the most active December on record. Overall, the cyclones of the 1887 season collectively caused more than $1.52 million in damage and over 41 fatalities.
The season's activity was reflected with an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) rating of 181, then the highest value ever recorded, but surpassed in 1893 and many other times since. ACE is a metric used to express the energy used by a tropical cyclone during its lifetime. Therefore, a storm with a longer duration will have higher values of ACE. It is only calculated at six-hour increments in which specific tropical and subtropical systems are either at or above sustained wind speeds of 39 mph (63 km/h), which is the threshold for tropical storm intensity. Thus, tropical depressions are not included here.
Systems
Tropical Storm One
On May 15, the steamship Orinoco, docked on Bermuda, reported gale-force winds and very heavy rainfall. Consequently, the track for this storm begins to the south-southeast of the island on that day. The Orinoco also recorded a barometric pressure of 997 mbar (29.4 inHg) on May 16, the day the storm made its closest approach to Bermuda, leading the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project to estimate that the cyclone peaked with winds of 70 mph (110 km/h). Initially, the system moved northwestward, until turning to the north by May 17. It is likely that the storm became extratropical on the following day. The remnants then turned northeastward over Atlantic Canada, crossing Nova Scotia and Newfoundland before dissipating on May 20. A reanalysis study authored by climate researcher Michael Chenoweth and published in 2014 considers this storm to have been a subtropical cyclone.
Tropical Storm Two
Based on data from the steamships Alvena, Athos, and Ponoma, another May storm formed south of Jamaica on May 17 and initially moved generally northwestward. After passing just west of Jamaica on the following day, the cyclone then turned northeast. The Alvena recorded a barometric pressure of 1,002 mbar (29.6 inHg) late on May 18, causing the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project to estimate that the storm peaked with winds of 60 mph (95 km/h). Early the next day, the cyclone made landfall in Cuba near Santa Cruz del Sur, several hours before emerging into the Atlantic. Throughout May 20, the storm crossed through the central Bahamas, passing near or over Exuma, Long Island, and Cat Island. The cyclone was last noted about halfway between Bermuda and the Bahamas on May 21. Impact in Jamaica and Cuba as a result of this storm was mainly limited to some heavy rainfall and squally conditions. Chenoweth proposed moving the path of the storm slightly farther west over Cuba and the Bahamas.
Tropical Storm Three
Weather conditions in Cuba beginning on June 11 suggest that a tropical depression over the northwestward Caribbean on June 11. The depression passed just west of Cabo San Antonio early the following day while entering the Gulf of Mexico, where it quickly intensified into a tropical storm. However, it is estimated that the cyclone did not strengthen beyond winds of 40 mph (65 km/h) prior to making landfall near Pascagoula, Mississippi, early on June 14. The storm then dissipated later that day. Chenoweth extends the duration of this cyclone back to June 10, with it attaining tropical storm status by the next day. The study by Chenoweth also concludes that this storm did not make landfall and instead meandered around the central Gulf of Mexico until dissipating on June 15.
Heavy rains fell over western Cuba, leading to flooding. Meteorologist Simón Sarasola reported in 1928 that this flooding caused crop damage and a loss of "some lives". Offshore Pensacola, Florida, the steamship Vidette began taking on water, necessitating that the crew be rescued by a tugboat.
Hurricane Four
The bark Florence, stationed at Barbados on July 20, recorded squally weather and decreasing barometric pressures. Consequently, the track for this system begins on that day about 150 mi (240 km) southeast of the island. Later on July 20, the cyclone entered the Caribbean after passing through Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Intensifying into a hurricane early the next day, the storm reached Category 2 status on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson scale on July 22. After moving west-northwestward for its duration thus far, the hurricane turned northwestward over the northwestern Caribbean on July 25. The cyclone struck the northeastern Yucatán Peninsula later that day and curved northward. Weakening to a Category 1 hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico, the storm turned north-northeastward. Around 15:00 UTC on July 27, the hurricane made landfall near Fort Walton Beach, Florida, with winds of 85 mph (140 km/h), with an estimated barometric pressure of 978 mbar (28.9 inHg). The storm continued north-northeastward as a tropical storm, before dissipating late on July 28 near Atlanta, Georgia.
On Barbados, the storm caused several vessels to be wrecked or to be run aground. Although the hurricane passed far to the south of Cuba, it caused several vessels to sink at Batabanó and brought heavy rain and flooding to the islands interior. In Florida, rainfall reached 8 in (200 mm) at Cedar Key. Strong winds downed hundreds of trees and destroyed a college building, a mill, and several small homes in DeFuniak Springs. Damage in the town was estimated at $5,000. In Caryville, the storm partially destroyed a mill and demolished a church. Additionally, Holmes and Walton counties reported heavy agricultural damage. Heavy rains fell in some other areas of the Southeastern United States, including a peak total of 16.5 in (420 mm) of precipitation at Union Point, Georgia. According to The Atlanta Constitution, the Chattahoochee River overflowed its banks from Columbus, Georgia, to Apalachicola, Florida, submerging an average of 5 mi (8.0 km) of land along the waterway. Consequently, extensive losses to cotton crops occurred, especially in Georgia and Alabama, with agricultural damage alone estimated at $1.5 million. One person drowned due to flooding in Georgia.
The 2014 reanalysis study by Chenoweth suggested slower intensification, with the storm not reaching hurricane status until July 24. However, it became more intense, briefly becoming a Category 3 hurricane prior to landfall in the Florida Panhandle. Chenoweth also concluded that the cyclone moved slower inland and dissipated over southeast Georgia on July 29.
Tropical Storm Five
Although no observations related to this storm have been found prior to August 5, HURDAT begins its track well east of the Windward Islands on July 30. Moving northwestward, the cyclone passed over or near Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on August 2 while entering the Caribbean. As the storm was located south of the Dominican Republic on August 5, the bark Florence, stationed at the Turks and Caicos Islands, recorded winds of 58 mph (93 km/h) and a barometric pressure of 1,001 mbar (29.6 inHg). Early the next day, the cyclone brushed Haiti's Tiburon Peninsula and then continued northwestward. The system dissipated near the western tip of Cuba on August 8.
Chenoweth proposes significant changes to the storm's track and duration, with the cyclone instead beginning as a tropical depression just east of the Leeward Islands on August 3. The storm remained just north of the Lesser and Greater Antilles until dissipating on August 7 over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico.