1875 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1875 Atlantic hurricane season featured three landfalling tropical cyclones. 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 has been estimated. There were five recorded hurricanes and one major hurricane – Category 3 or higher on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson scale.
| 1875 Atlantic hurricane season | |
|---|---|
Season summary map | |
| Seasonal boundaries | |
| First system formed | August 16, 1875 |
| Last system dissipated | October 16, 1875 |
| Strongest storm | |
| Name | Three |
| • Maximum winds | 115 mph (185 km/h) (1-minute sustained) |
| • Lowest pressure | 960 mbar (hPa; 28.35 inHg) |
| Seasonal statistics | |
| Total storms | 6 |
| Hurricanes | 5 |
| Major hurricanes (Cat. 3+) | 1 |
| Total fatalities | ~800 |
| Total damage | $5 million (1875 USD) |
Reanalysis of the season for HURDAT – the official database for Atlantic tropical cyclones – was completed by 2011. Of the known 1875 cyclones, both the first and fifth cyclones were first documented in 1995 by Jose Fernandez-Partagas and Henry Diaz. They also proposed large changes to the known track of the sixth system and to the duration of the second storm, as well as more minor changes to the track of third cyclone. The duration of the second system was further amended in 2008.
Although three tropical cyclones made landfall, only one caused significant damage. The season's third known and strongest system, known as the Indianola hurricane, brought devastation to portions of the Lesser Antilles, Greater Antilles, and Texas. It is estimated that the hurricane caused about 800 fatalities, with approximately 300 in the city of Indianola, Texas, alone. The storm left over $5 million (1875 USD) in damage.