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1944 Pinar Del Rio Hurricane. History. October 12, 1944 – October 23, 1944 This 1944 hurricane, known as the Pinar del Rio hurricane or Cuba-Florida hurricane.
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History • October 12, 1944 – October 23, 1944 • This 1944 hurricane, known as the Pinar del Rio hurricane or Cuba-Florida hurricane. • October 12th, the storm was detected on off the coast of Nicaragua. As it moved Westward, winds intensified reaching sustained winds of 100 mph • On October 16th, it becoming a Category 2 centered below Grand Cayman. • October 17th, the storm strengthened to the equivalent of a major hurricane making landfall in Pinar del Rio, on the west side of Cuba. • October 19th the hurricane weakened significantly, and it struck the mainland of southwest Florida near Sarasota as a minimal hurricane with winds of 75 mph (120 km/h)and with minimum pressure, 962 mbar measured in Sarasota. • On October 20 the hurricane diminished to a tropical storm as it passed through Jacksonville and moved inland over North Carolina. • On October 21st the storm caused strong winds over Newfoundland and the remnants joined a low pressure over Southern Greenland.
IDV REANALYSIS Here we can see the storm forming by Nicaragua, and how quickly the intense rain and size of the storm intensifies as it moves through the Gulf and how it weakens once hitting Northern Florida, the Carolinas, Newfoundland and eventually disappating by Europe.
Storm history • The storm was reported by the Silver Arrow, a ship traveling from Jamaica to Belize on October 12th. On the 16th The keeper of Swan Island (an island in the Caribbean belonging to Honduras) reported the roughest seas he had ever experienced in his life. • On the 14th a record 24 hours of rainfall fell, 16.04 inches of rain on Grand Cayman (31.29 total). On the 15th gusts were measured at that station to be 118 mph from the east as the storm center passed Westward of the island. • On the 17th the hurricane passed through Pinar del Rio incurring heavy damage, but they had no reports at the time as they lost all communication with this part of the island at this time. • Through Jacksonville the eye was reported to have lasted from 11:30 am to 5 pm indicating an unusually large core extending from Jacksonville to Ocala, about 70 miles. • By the 21st the storm remnants merged with the Icelandic Low east of Greenland.
Storm track, important observations • Swan Island • Grand Cayman • Pinar del Rio • Dry Tortugas
Pressure & Winds • The lowest pressure for the storm was 248.9 mb (28.02 inches) recorded over Dry Tortugas. • The highest recorded winds & wind gusts were recorded in Havana, Cuba to be 140 mph & 163 mph respectively. Gusts of at least 60 miles per hour were recorded for 18 hours straight, while winds of over 35 mph were reported to have lasted 72 hours. • At dry tortugas the winds were recorded to be 120 mph for 2 consecutive hours before the instrument was blown away.
Storm tide, casualties, & damage • The storm tides caused the most damage in this hurricane. Over Jacksonville the tide was 12.28 feet above mean low tide. In Cuba, a tidal wave killed 20 people and carried a Oil barge 10 miles inland. • Before wire service failure due to storm winds, the hurricane center in Miami broadcasted warnings in order to evacuate potential dangerous areas. 35,000 people were sheltered by the red cross. • About 318 persons were killed. In Florida there were 18, of which 9 were marines attempting to get of the storm but their ship capsized. The remaining 300 that lost their life were in Cuba, including 200 just from Pinar del Rio. • Florida lost about 70% of it’s crop, the equivalent to 25 million boxes of oranges or $50 million. The Carolinas & Georgia most incurred damage to power & communication lines. In Cuba, the Havana harbor was so clogged with sunken and wrecked boats it had to be closed.
Holds a record as one of the costliest storms • Cuba • There was severe damage, mostly in the Pinar del Río Province which is the Western part of the island where the hurricane went through directly. In this area all the harvests were lost, animals were killed or drowned, and houses were destroyed. Much of Havana harbor was strewn with wrecked and sunken ships. About 300 people were killed in Cuba. • Florida • There was serious tide damage along the southwest Florida coast, and much of the citrus harvest was ruined by the storm. Nine people died when their boat capsized during the storm.
Temp. Anomalies As you can tell by the temperature anomalies, until 1945 we were in an El Nino period of time, creating warmer waters bringing large storms such as this one & the 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane.
aftermath • In Pinar del Rio the bridges broke making it impossible to travel to other parts of the island. • All the harvest for that year was lost, along with all the farm animals. • Many things that had to be repaired could not be because they import everything from the US who was still participating in WWII. • Following the hurricane there was a period of drought, they had to drink water from wells & many came down with Typhoid Fever.
