1909 Atlantic Hurricane Season

The 1909 Atlantic hurricane season was an average Atlantic hurricane season, officially starting on June 1, 1909, and ending on November 30, 1909, dates which conventionally delimit the period of each year when tropical cyclones tend to form in the Atlantic basin. The season produced eleven tropical cyclones, of which all eleven became tropical storms; six became hurricanes, and four of those strengthened into major hurricanes. The seasons first storm developed on June 15, shortly after the official start of the hurricane season, and the last storm dissipated on November 14, shortly before the official end of the hurricane season. The most notable storm during the season formed in late August, while east of the Lesser Antilles. Moving west to west-northwestward, the storm quickly gained hurricane status, and traversed much of the Greater Antilles before strengthening into a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale and crossing the Yucatán Peninsula. Briefly weakening after its interaction with land, it strengthened into a Category 3 once again, and made landfall in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas on August 27 before rapidly dissipating the following day.

The 1909 was very deadly and destructive, featuring 4,614 fatalities, and $75 million (1909 USD), mostly due to the sixth and eighth hurricanes of the season. In mid-July, the fourth storm of the season hit Freeport, Texas, as a Category 3 hurricane, killing 41 people, and causing $2 million in damage. In mid-September, the eighth storm of the season made landfall near Grand Isle, Louisiana, as a Category 3 hurricane, killing at least 350 people and causing $10 million in damage. The storms storm surge is responsible for destroying thousands of homes, as it penetrated 2 mi (12,000 km/h) inland. In late August, the tenth storm of the season developed, and tracked across Cuba, the Bahamas, and Marathon, Florida, as a Category 3 hurricane. At least $2 million in damage was caused, and 27 deaths were recorded. Lastly, the final storm of the season struck eastern Jamaica and Hispaniola as a hurricane before transitioning into an Extratropical cyclone northeast of the Bahamas. The storm killed 30 people, and caused $7 million in damage.