The 1886 Atlantic hurricane season included seven tropical cyclones that struck or moved across the United States at hurricane intensity, the most ever recorded. The season featured 12 known tropical storms, with a then-record tying 10 becoming hurricanes. Four of those cyclones became major hurricanes, the highest number until 1893. The season also had the most active June, and reached the modern seasonal average of hurricanes by mid-August. This occurred once more in 1893, and has remained a distant record since. However, with the absence of modern satellites and other remote-sensing technologies, only storms that affected populated land areas or encountered ships at sea were documented. The actual total is likely higher with an average under-count bias estimate of zero to six tropical cyclones per year between 1851 and 1885 and zero to four per year between 1886 and 1910. The first system was initially observed on June 13 over the western Gulf of Mexico, while the final storm was last noted east-southeast of Bermuda on October 26.
The seventh and eleventh systems were first documented in 1996 by José Fernández-Partagás and Henry F. Diaz, in which they also proposed alterations to the known tracks of nearly all other 1886 storms. A 2000 reanalysis by meteorologist Ramón Pérez Suárez resulted in the sixth cyclone being retroactively upgraded to a major hurricane. Although early 21st century reviews of this season by the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project did not add or remove any storms from the official hurricane database (HURDAT), they extended the duration of a few storms and upgraded the sixth system to major hurricane status. In 2014, climate researcher Michael Chenoweth's reanalysis study recommended the addition of one new storm to HURDAT, for a total of 13 cyclones in the 1886 season, as well as modifications to the tracks, duration, and intensity of several systems. However, Chenoweth's reanalysis is yet to be added to HURDAT.
Nearly all known cyclones of the 1886 season impacted land. The strongest cyclone, the fifth system (also known as the Indianola hurricane), peaked as a Category 4 hurricane on the present-day Saffir–Simpson scale. Passing through the Windward Islands and striking Hispaniola, Cuba, and Texas, the hurricane caused at least 75 fatalities and about $3.1 million (1886 USD; $ in ) in damage in Texas alone. Between late June and early July, the season's third storm led to more than 21 deaths as it impacted Jamaica, Cuba, and Florida. Many countries and territories around the eastern and central Caribbean experienced the effects of the season's sixth cyclone in August, with at least five people killed on Saint Vincent. Also during that month, the seventh storm drowned five people over the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. The final hurricane to strike the United States, the tenth system, killed at least 196 people in Louisiana and Texas and inflicted about $250,000 ($ in ) in the eastern portions of the former alone. Collectively, the cyclones of the 1886 season caused more than $3.35 million in damage ($ in ) and over 302 fatalities.
Seasonal summary
The 1886 season was approximately average, featuring 12 tropical storms compared to the more modern 1981–2010 annual average of 12.1. The number of hurricanes, however, was well above average, with 10 forming compared to the latest 1991–2020 annual average of 7.2. The number of major hurricanes—defined as Category 3 or higher on the modern Saffir–Simpson scale—was four; also above average compared to an average of 3.2. Several studies have also suggested that the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa may have played a significant role in the unusual and enhanced activity. Owing to deficiencies in surface weather observations at the time, the total number of tropical storms in 1886 was likely higher than 12. A 2008 study indicated that about three storms may have been missed by observational records due to scarce marine traffic over the open Atlantic Ocean, while Christopher Landsea in 2004 estimated an average under-count bias estimate of zero to six tropical cyclones per year between 1851 and 1885 and zero to four per year between 1886 and 1910. All but two of the storms in 1886 affected land at some point in the tropical stages of their life cycles. Of these, four hurricanes struck the island of Cuba, a record unsurpassed in any Atlantic hurricane season since at least 1851. According to the Cuban Meteorological Society, 1886 coincided with a highly active period (1837–1910) in which one hurricane struck the island every 9.25 years. Additionally, seven hurricanes struck or moved across the United States at that intensity, establishing another record single-season record. The years 1886–1887 combined featured nine hurricane landfalls in the United States, an unsurpassed total for consecutive seasons until 2004–2005. Hurricane activity centered on the Gulf of Mexico: six of the seven landfalls in 1886 (and 3 in 1887) occurred on the U.S. Gulf Coast, with no hurricanes making landfall along the Atlantic Seaboard.
Although other storms may have gone undetected, tropical activity first began on June 13 with the formation of the first tropical storm over the western Gulf of Mexico. Two other storms formed before the end of the month and also reached the Gulf of Mexico. All three of the storms each attained hurricane intensity and eventually made landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast with sustained winds of 100 mph (155 km/h). About two weeks later in mid-July, another storm formed over the western Caribbean moved northward before striking the west coast of Florida as a hurricane. This is after two earlier stronger storms had already done so in the state. Never before or since have so many hurricanes struck Florida in the same season before the month of September. Three storms, all of which attained major hurricane intensity, formed in close succession, over a span of eight days, in August. The first of these, the Indianola hurricane, was the strongest and most intense tropical cyclone of the season, striking multiple islands in the Greater Antilles before rapidly strengthening over the western Gulf of Mexico. It struck the U.S. state of Texas on August 20 with sustained winds of , tying it with the 1932 Freeport hurricane for the strongest storm to do so. It was also one of the most intense to have struck the continental U.S., and the strongest in Texas measured solely by central pressure, at .
September was less active than August, featuring two hurricanes in the later half of the month. Both reached Category 2 intensity, while hurricane eight struck Texas at peak intensity about a month after the Indianola hurricane. Around the same time hurricane nine formed out to sea, and impacted several ships. About two weeks later, the final hurricane formed in early October and struck western Louisiana with winds of . The hurricane then moved on to strike Texas shortly after, being the fourth and final to do so that year. Since records began in 1851, only two hurricanes have struck the state later into the season. Two additional tropical storms occurred in October, the second of which was last noted east-southeast of Bermuda on October 26, with no further activity confirmed afterward. Overall, the cyclones of the 1886 season collectively caused more than $3.35 million (1886 USD) in damage and over 302 fatalities.
The season's activity was reflected with an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) rating of 166, the second highest total of the decade, behind only the following season. 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
Hurricane One
Early in June, unsettled weather prevailed over the western Caribbean Sea, causing heavy rain and strong winds over Jamaica as early as June 7–8. However, ship reports and data from weather stations first confirmed that a low-pressure area formed off the coast of South Texas. Based on the data, HURDAT analyzed that a tropical storm formed about east-southeast of La Pesca, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, on the morning of June 13. Moving generally northward at first, the cyclone quickly intensified through the day as it gradually turned to the north-northeast, paralleling the Texas coast. By 06:00 UTC on June 14, the cyclone already attained hurricane status, and its parabolic path increasingly bent to the northeast. Around 16:00 UTC, the cyclone attained its peak intensity of 100 mph (155 km/h), equivalent to a modern-day Category 2 hurricane, and made landfall just east of High Island, Texas. The cyclone rapidly weakened as it headed inland to the east-northeast, crossing south-central Louisiana as a tropical storm on June 15. Reanalysis in the 1990s determined that it dissipated about east-southeast of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, by 18:00 UTC on June 15. Climate scientist Michael Chenoweth moved the development date of this cyclone back to June 7, as a tropical storm near Jamaica. The cyclone then crossed the Yucatán Peninsula prior to reaching the Gulf of Mexico.
As it passed just offshore, the hurricane produced strong winds from the east and northeast in Galveston, Texas, generating very high tides. Observers suggested that only the shifting of the winds prevented severe flooding, possibly the worst since a hurricane in 1875; even so, small boats sustained significant damage. Waterfront structures, a tramway, and a railroad were destroyed. Galveston recorded peak winds of 50 mph (85 km/h), and a barometer in town registered a minimum pressure of ; as these conditions were recorded outside the storm's radius of maximum wind, the cyclone was likely stronger. Upon making landfall, the hurricane brought a storm tide and major flooding to Sabine Pass and its environs. Numerous structures and wharves were destroyed by wind or water, and winds tore roofs from houses. Fruit trees in the area lost much of their fruit. Saltwater intrusion extended several miles inland, imperiling livestock for want of freshwater. Across the state border in adjourning Louisiana, widespread flooding occurred at Calcasieu Pass, where a barge was stranded and schooners were wrecked. Half of the corn crop in southwest Louisiana was damaged. While losing intensity so rapidly after landfall that forecasters lost track of it, the storm generated prolific rainfall in its path across Southeast Texas and Louisiana, peaking at in Alexandria, Louisiana.
Hurricane Two
Little more than a day after the dissipation of the previous hurricane, a broad area of low pressure over the western Caribbean Sea developed into a tropical storm while centered about east-southeast of Punta Allen, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Over the next two days, the storm meandered toward and through the Yucatán Channel, gradually intensifying as it proceeded to the north-northwest and north. Late on June 18, the system attained hurricane status off the western tip of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. The following day, the cyclone turned to the north-northeast, producing "severe gales" () over the waters off Cuba and Jamaica, as reported by ships. At 00:00 UTC on June 20, the storm reached its peak intensity of 100 mph (155 km/h), and shortly afterward its forward speed accelerated. At 11:00 UTC on June 21, the cyclone made landfall near St. Marks, Florida, as a Category 2 hurricane. The storm gradually decreased in intensity over the next day and a half as it crossed the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. By 18:00 UTC on June 23, the system passed about southeast of New York City and curved to the east before dissipating a day later.