1878 Atlantic Hurricane Season

The 1878 Atlantic hurricane season lasted from the summer through much of the fall. Records show that 1878 featured an relatively active hurricane season. A total of twelve storms were observed during the year. There were two tropical storms, eight hurricanes and two major hurricanes (Category 3+). However, in the absence of modern satellite and other remote-sensing technologies, only storms that affected populated land areas or encountered ships at sea were recorded, so the actual total could be higher. An undercount bias of zero to six tropical cyclones per year between 1851 and 1885 and zero to four per year between 1886 and 1910 has been estimated. Of the known 1878 cyclones, both Hurricane Three and Hurricane Four were first documented in 1995 by Jose Fernandez-Partagas and Henry Diaz, who also proposed large changes to the known tracks of Hurricanes Two,Seven and Eight. Further analysis,from 2000 onwards, extended the duration of Hurricane Three by one day and identified major track changes for Hurricane Five.