1770–1779 Atlantic hurricane seasons

1770 Atlantic hurricane season

1771 Atlantic hurricane season

No storms were reported.

1772 Atlantic hurricane season

A westward moving hurricane hit Puerto Rico on August 28. It continued through the Greater Antilles, hitting Hispaniola on the 30th and later Jamaica. It moved northwestward through the Gulf of Mexico, and hit just west of Mobile, Alabama on the 4th. Many ships were destroyed in the Mobile area, and its death toll is at least 280 deaths. This storm was famously described by Alexander Hamilton, who was living on Saint Croix at the time, and wrote a letter about it to his father. The letter was so dramatic and moving that it was published in newspapers in New York, and locals raised money to have him brought to the American colonies to receive a formal education. The letter included:

:Honored Sir,

:I take up my pen, just to give you an imperfect account of one of the most dreadful hurricanes that memory or any records whatever can trace, which happened here on the 31st ultimo at night. It began about dusk, at north, and raged very violently till ten o'clock. Then ensued a sudden and unexpected interval which lasted about an hour. Meanwhile the wind was shifting round to the south west point , from whence it returned with redoubled fury and continued till nearly three in the morning. Good God! what horror and destruction - it's impossible for me to describe - or you to form any idea of it. It seemed as if a total dissolution of nature was taking place. The roaring of the sea and wind - fiery meteors flying about in the air - the prodigious glare of almost perpetual lightning - the crash of falling houses - and the ear-piercing shrieks of the distressed were sufficient to strike astonishment into Angels. A great part of the buildings throughout the island are leveled to the ground - almost all the rest very much shattered - several persons killed and numbers utterly ruined - whole families wandering about the streets, unknowing where to find a place of shelter - the sick exposed to the keenness of water and air - without a bed to lie upon - or a dry covering to their bodies - and our harbors entirely bare. In a word, misery, in its most hideous shapes, spread over the whole face of the country .... [http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/historic/nws/hamilton.html]

While the previous hurricane was moving through the Caribbean, a tropical storm was moving northward in the Western Atlantic, hitting North Carolina on September 1. It forced fourteen vessels ashore, and fifty people perished in the storm.

Three hurricanes affected St. Kitts and Nevis in 1772. It is not known whether or not any of them were related to the above storms. "Nevis had scarcely a house left standing" after the first storm, and the worst one, on August 31. On St. Kitts, the damage was considerable. Once again, many houses were flattened, and there were several fatalities and many more injuries. Total damage from the storm was estimated at 500,000 pound sterling on St. Kitts. The second storm struck just three days later.

1773 Atlantic hurricane season

I. On August 26, a hurricane was reported in Virginia. It created much damage to area vessels (Virginia Gazette from September 2, 1773).

II. A 3-day rain event struck southeast Virginia from September 30 to October 2. North to northeast winds were experienced across the region.

1774 Atlantic hurricane season

I. August 24-25 saw an "August northeaster" bear down on Westmoreland County in Virginia. Rainy conditions were seen throughout the two-day period (from Journal & Letters of Philip Vickers Fithian p. 177).

II. The Maryland capitol building in Annapolis saw roof damage from a hurricane that began on September 3 and lasted about 24 hours (from Annapolis: A Walk Through History p. 77). A "stormy" northeast wind was seen in Westmoreland County Virginia, along with a "flood of rain" (from Journal & Letters of Philip Vickers Fithian p. 183-184).

1775 Atlantic hurricane season

Newfoundland Hurricane of 1775

On August 29, a hurricane hit the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It turned northeastward and left the state on the 2nd, bringing heavy wind and rain to southeastern Virginia. The hurricane stuck the eastern coast of Newfoundland on September 9, 1775. Approximately 4000 sailors, mostly from England and Ireland, were reported to have been drowned; a localized, storm surge is reported to have reached heights of between 20 and 30 feet.The hurricane, also known as the Independence Hurricane, is Canada's deadliest natural disaster, as well as the eighth deadliest hurricane in history. A total of 4163 people died in this hurricane.

Other Storms

A hurricane moved through the Caribbean Sea in late July.

On November 2, a hurricane hit the Caicos Islands. "During a hurricane...at least eleven merchantmen and several English warships were lost in the Windward Passage near the Caicos Islands."

1776 Atlantic hurricane season

A hurricane moving northward through the Carolinas affected a Revolutionary War battle in Virginia; it caused supply ships to sink in the Chesapeake Bay area, and resulted in moderate damage to the area.

A powerful hurricane hit Martinique on September 5. It hit Pointe-a-Pitre Bay, Guadeloupe the next day, and caused 6000 fatalities.

1777 Atlantic hurricane season

One Spanish ship was sunk from a hurricane that moved off the Florida coast in June. No one was recovered.

Five ships were lost in a hurricane that moved across the Central Atlantic on September 10.

1778 Atlantic hurricane season

On August 12, a hurricane prevented a naval battle between the British and French in the Revolutionary War, causing them to separate as the hurricane moved up the coast.

Between October 28 and the 31st, a hurricane moved across Cuba, with most lives lost due to drowning.

A late season hurricane, possibly related to the previous hurricane, hit Cape Cod, Massachusetts on November 1. It caused 50-70 deaths.

1779 Atlantic hurricane season

All but one ship in a Spanish fleet of warships were sunk off the coast of Louisiana from a hurricane that hit on August 18. When it hit New Orleans, Louisiana on the 18th, it pushed the ships in the harbor well inland, causing heavy damage. William Dunbar first theorized from this system that a hurricane revolved around a vortex in the center.

A hurricane hit Martinique on August 28th, of which "many lives were lost".

After the season ended on December 3, a hurricane moved up the Atlantic coast, causing 120 deaths.

See also

* List of tropical cyclones
* List of Atlantic hurricane seasons

External links

* http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastdeadly.shtml
* http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/research/la18hu.htm