Great Havana Hurricane of 1846 - Strength

Strength

The Great Havana Hurricane was likely a Category 5 hurricane; however, confirming its intensity would require the accuracy of modern instruments. The earliest officially recorded Category 5 hurricane, the 1924 Cuba hurricane did not occur for decades.

In Havana, Cuba, a pressure of 940 mbar (28 inHg) was recorded, but reports of wind speeds at the time are only estimates.

One estimate shows a pressure of 902 mbar (26.6 inHg) as the storm crossed the Florida Keys, which would make it the second-strongest U.S. hurricane landfall on record, behind only the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, also in the Florida Keys. In addition, if the pressure estimate is accurate, the hurricane would be tied with Hurricane Katrina as the sixth-most-intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic, and easily the most intense hurricane of the 19th century. No Atlantic storm would officially reach or surpass 902 mbar (26.6 inHg) until the Labor Day storm in 1935, nearly 90 years later.

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