1944 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1944 Atlantic hurricane season featured the first instance of upper-tropospheric observations from radiosonde – a telemetry device used to record weather data in the atmosphere – being incorporated into tropical cyclone track forecasting for a fully developed hurricane. The season officially began on June 15, 1944, and ended on November 15, 1944. These dates describe the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. The season's first cyclone developed on July 13, while the final system became an extratropical cyclone by November 13. The season was fairly active season, with 14 tropical storms, 8 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes. In real-time, forecasters at the Weather Bureau tracked eleven tropical storms, but later analysis uncovered evidence of three previously unclassified tropical storms.

The strongest storm of the season was the Great Atlantic hurricane, which struck Long Island and New England and later Atlantic Canada after becoming extratropical, causing about $100 million (1944 USD) in damage across the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada, as well as at least 391 deaths, most of which occurred at sea. The Jamaica hurricane and Cuba–Florida hurricane were also powerful and left major impacts. The former inflicted "several millions of dollars" in damage in Jamaica, while 116 deaths were recorded throughout its path. The Cuba–Florida hurricane devastated both regions, resulting in at least 318 fatalities and damage exceeding $100 million. A hurricane which struck Mexico in late September caused between 200 and 300 deaths in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec due to flooding. Collectively, the tropical cyclones during the 1944 season caused about $202 million in damage and at least 1,025 fatalities.