1883 — Sep 11, Hurricane Three of 1883 season, SC, NC (53) VA (12th), especially NC– 53

Internationally (NC and Bahamas):            (106)

–106  Rappaport and Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones… 1995.[1]

 

United States (NC)                                        (  53)

— 53  Barnes, Jay. North Carolina’s Hurricane History (Third Edition). 2001, pp. 47 & 304.

— 53  Dunn, Gordon and Banner Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). 1964, p. 312.

— 53  Hudgins (NWS). Tropical Cyclones Affecting [NC] Since 1586…. April, 2000, p. 15

— 53  South Carolina State Climatology Office. Hurricanes and Tropical Storms… 2008.

 

Narrative Information

 

Barnes: “In September 1883, a violent hurricane made landfall near Smithville and brought punishing winds to the Cape Fear Region. On the morning of the eleventh, maximum winds in Southport were recorded at 93 mph, with gusts over 110….Wind-driven water pushed far up the Cape Fear River, flooding large portions of its western banks…Among the losses were several pilot boats and other craft, many of which broke their moorings and were scattered by the storm….Several drownings were reported from…wrecked ships, and many others died in homes that either flooded or had collapsed during the violent gale. In all, fifty-three North Carolinians are known to have lost their lives in this hurricane, more than in any storm in the state’s  history.” (Barnes, Jay. North Carolina’s Hurricane History (Third Edition). 2001, p. 47.)

 

Dunn and Miller and SCSCO:  Came ashore at Myrtle Beach SC on September 11 and moved directly north into NC where, according to the South Carolina State Climatology Office (2008) and Dunn and Miller, all 53 deaths occurred.

 

Hudgins (NWS): “First identified at Martinique on the 4th, this hurricane moved steadily on a curved path northwest, swinging north, and passed inland near Smithville (Southport) on the 11th. Maximum winds at Smithville (Southport) were from the southeast at 93 mi/h at 8:20 a.m. Newspaper accounts stated that the wind blew at a speed of 81 mi/h for seven hours. Many fences and buildings of light construction were destroyed and trees uprooted. Telegraph and telephone lines were blown down. Leaves on trees afterward looked as if frost bitten, due to the effect of salt spray. The damage at Smithville (Southport) was reported at $8,000 to $10,000, but this evidently did not include many vessels which broke from their moorings and were driven ashore in the vicinity. The storm was reported very disastrous to vessels between Hatteras and Wilmington, with much wreckage drifting onto shore near Wilmington. The land on the western side of the Cape Fear River was reported “flooded by the immense body of water driven up the river.” Considerable crop damage due to violent wind and rain was reported as far inland as Harnett County. There were 53 deaths in North Carolina.” (Hudgins. Tropical Cyclones Affecting North Carolina Since 1586 – A Historical Perspective. NWS Eastern Region HQ, Apr 2000, 15.)

 

Roth and Cobb on VA: “September 12, 1883: A “protracted drought” was ended across Virginia on the 11^th, as the rains from this tropical cyclone reached the Old Dominion. Unfortunately, it came too late for the peanut crop, which had already failed. A train wreck which occurred on the Norfolk and Western railroad near Nottoway Court House Station may be attributed to this cyclone. Ten freight cars were derailed. The schooner E.C. Knight Jr. wrecked near Cape Henry.”

 

Sources

 

Barnes, Jay. North Carolina’s Hurricane History (Third Edition). Chapel Hill and London:  University of North Carolina Press, 2001.

 

Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition).  Baton Rouge LA:  Louisiana State University Press, 1964, 377 pages.

 

Hudgins, James E. (NWS, Blacksburg, VA). Tropical Cyclones Affecting North Carolina Since 1586 – A Historical Perspective. Bohemia, NY: Scientific Services Division, National Weather Service Eastern Region Headquarters, NOAA, Department of Commerce, April 2000. Accessed 5-19-2014 at: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/rnk/Research/NC_Tropical_Cyclone_History.pdf

 

Rappaport, Edward N. and Jose Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994 (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NHC-47).  Coral Gables, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, January 1995, 42 pages. Accessed at:  http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-NHC-1995-47.pdf

 

Roth, David (Hydrometeorological Prediction Center, Camp Springs, MD) and Hugh Cobb (National Weather Service Forecast Office, Wakefield, VA). “Late Nineteenth Century Virginia Hurricanes,” Virginia Hurricane History. Accessed at: http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/research/roth/vahur.htm

 

South Carolina State Climatology Office. Hurricanes and Tropical Storms Affecting South Carolina.  11-1-2008 at: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/Tropics/hurricane_tracks_affecting_sc.php

 

Wikipedia. 1883 Atlantic hurricane Season. “Hurricane Three.” 9-18-2013 modification. Accessed 5-19-2014 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1883_Atlantic_hurricane_season

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Cites: Monthly Weather Review, U.S. Signal Office, 1-18, 1872-1890; U.S. Weather Bureau, 19-98, 1891-1970; National Weather Service, 99-101, 1971-1973; American Meteorological Society, 101-125, 1974-1997; and Salivia, L. A., 1972: Historia de los temporales de Puerto Rico y las Antillas, Editorial Edil, Inc., San Juan, Puerto Rico.