1883 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1883 Atlantic hurricane season ran through the summer and the first half of fall in 1883. This is the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. In the 1883 Atlantic season there was one tropical storm, one Category 1 hurricane, and two major hurricanes (Category 3+). However, in the absence of modern satellite monitoring and 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.

Season summary
The Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT) recognizes four tropical cyclones for the 1883 season. In 1883 there was one tropical storm, one Category 1 hurricane and two major hurricanes in the Atlantic basin. Due to the inactivity of the season, there were no storms in June, July or November. Both Hurricane One and Hurricane Two were active in the Western Atlantic throughout the second half of August. Although Hurricane One was the only storm of the year not to make a landfall, it did cause 80 deaths among seafarers off Newfoundland. Hurricane Three was a major hurricane that was first seen in the Lesser Antilles and travelled north to eventually dissipate over Virginia. It caused 106 deaths in the Bahamas and North Carolina. The last known cyclone was a tropical storm active in October between the Bahamas and the coast of North Carolina.

Hurricane One
The Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT) begins the track for this cyclone about 850 mi east-northeast of the Leeward Islands on August 18, one day before being encountered by the bark B. F. Watson. Initially a tropical storm, the system moved on a west-northwestward path that gradually became more northwestward. Late on August 21, the storm turned north-northwestward and intensified into a hurricane early the next day while situated southwest of Bermuda. The cyclone then turned northeastward on August 23 and continued to slowly strengthen. Late on August 26, the ship Finchley observed a barometric pressure of 975 mbar, the lowest associated with the storm. Consequently, the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project estimated in 2003 that the hurricane peaked with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (150 km/h). However, the hurricane lost tropical characteristics and on August 27, it transitioned into an extratropical cyclone about 775 mi northeast of Newfoundland. The extratropical cyclone dissipated northwest of the British Isles on August 28.

The hurricane wreaked havoc on ships over the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. According to a September 1 report in The New York Times, 100 dories were lost and a total of 80 deaths occurred, though The Times of London noted on September 6 that 30 vessels remained missing. The latter also declared that "immense damage has been done to shipping".

Climate researcher Michael Chenoweth's reanalysis study, published in 2014, extended the duration of this storm back two days earlier and theorized that it became a hurricane on August 18. The cyclone also maintained major hurricane status late on August 25 and into the following day, based on an estimated barometric pressure of 941 mbar.

Hurricane Two
On August 24, the bark N. Boynton encountered a hurricane to the northeast of the Leeward Islands, with the official track initiated about 400 mi from Barbuda. This storm moved on a similar path to the previous, trekking west-northwestward and then northwestward, followed by a turn to the north on August 27. Intensification occurred during this time, and early the next day, the cyclone reached major hurricane status, becoming a Category 3 hurricane on the present-day Saffir–Simpson scale while passing west of Bermuda. A brig known as Daphne observed a barometric pressure of 948 mbar on August 29. Based on this, the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project estimated that this storm attained peak winds of 125 mph (205 km/h). The storm then turned northeastward and gradually weakened. Late on August 30, the system passed near Newfoundland as a Category 1 hurricane and soon transitioned into an extratropical cyclone. The extratropical storm persisted until September 2, when it struck the British Isles at hurricane-equivalent intensity and lost its identity over East Anglia.

The hurricane generated sustained winds up to 40 mph on Bermuda. In Nova Scotia, winds blew "with great violence" in Halifax, according to The New York Times. Two yachts and a number of other vessels became stranded or capsized. In early September, the extratropical remnants reached the British Isles as a powerful storm. Abnormally high tides were reported in Ireland, flooding low-lying homes in the town of Wexford. At least one person died after the steamer Iris capsized at Inishtrahull island. Crops, especially grain, suffered extensive damage in southern Ireland, leading to concerns about the renewal of rent agitation. In Great Britain, barometers fell to as low as 963 mbar at Pembroke, Wales. Several vessels capsized, especially along the south coast of England, causing a numerous loss of life. In one instance, 12 out of 14 occupants of the G. J. Jones (or G I. Jones) drowned after the bark sank in Mount's Bay near Penzance. Waves swept away nearly 0.5 mi of the Portland Branch Railway. However, the storm also caused some waterways to fall to abnormally low tides, interfering with boat traffic on the River Thames. The Royal Meteorological Society noted that the extratropical cyclone also impacted France, Germany, and Norway. In France, one ship at Bayonne and several others near Bordeaux capsized, "with loss of hands" in the vicinity of the latter according to The Times.

Chenoweth initiates the track for this storm as a tropical depression about halfway between the Lesser Antilles and Cabo Verde Islands on August 20. The system reaches tropical storm intensity on August 21 and then hurricane status late the next day. Chenoweth also proposed a more northeasterly track of the extratropical cyclone across the British Isles, before it dissipated over the North Sea on September 3.

Hurricane Three
The Bahamas-North Carolina Hurricane of 1883

The brig L. W. Armstrong experienced heavy rains, high seas, and barometric pressures as low as 955 mbar at Saint-Pierre, Martinique, on September 4, one day after reporting no unusual weather. Consequently, HURDAT begins the track for this storm as a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 125 mph (205 km/h) early on September 4 about 115 mi northeast of Barbados. Several hours later, the cyclone passed just north of Martinique as it moved west-northwestward into the Caribbean Sea. Early on September 6, the hurricane made landfall near Barahona, Dominican Republic, and likely rapidly weakened to a Category 1 hurricane over the mountainous terrain of Hispaniola. Emerging into the Atlantic from Haiti's northwest coast, the system trekked northwestward through the Bahamas and re-intensified into a Category 2 on September 8. After passing near New Providence that day, the storm then moved near or over the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama on September 9. The hurricane then moved generally northward, and on September 11, it made landfall just east of the South Carolina-North Carolina state line. Thereafter, the cyclone trekked north-northeastward and weakened to a tropical storm early on September 12 and then to a tropical depression about 24 hours later, before dissipating over Maryland on September 13.

The schooner Edward Black reported significant damage to shipping at Saint-Pierre, Martinique, along with a "great loss of life". Approximately 20 vessels sank on the island. All wharves were destroyed in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe. Along the coast of the Dominican Republic, two people drowned after waves swept them off the deck of a ship and six others after the brigantine Dauntless capsized, though captain C. O. Davis estimated that perhaps more than 100 people drowned. Many villages lining the south coast of the Dominican Republic suffered extensive impact. Damage in the Dominican Republic reached approximately $30,000. In the Bahamas, the hurricane left few homes undamaged in Nassau and toppled many fences, walls, and trees. The Nassau Guardian reported that almost 100 ships sustained serious damage or capsized and that the storm killed 53 people. Across North Carolina, the hurricane toppled trees, fences, light buildings, and telegraph and telephone lines. Several vessels were wrecked off the North Carolina coast and flooding occurred along the Cape Fear River. Smithville (present-day Southport) reported $8,000-$10,000 in damage, although this figure likely did not include many of the vessels capsized there. A total of 53 deaths occurred in North Carolina. Rains from this storm in Virginia helped end a summer-long drought but any benefit was minimal, as the peanut crop had already failed from the lack of precipitation. At Nottoway, heavy rain from the cyclone may have led to a train with 10 freight cars derailing. Overall the hurricane caused 106 deaths in the Bahamas and North Carolina.

A reanalysis study by Chenoweth initiated the track for this storm as a tropical depression to the southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands on September 2. The depression moved generally northwestward and strengthened into a tropical storm later that day and a hurricane by September 4. Chenoweth argues that the cyclone weakened to a tropical storm early on September 7 due to its passage over Hispaniola, before becoming a hurricane again several hours later. Additionally, Chenoweth theorizes that the cyclone held major hurricane status for a second stint over the Bahamas on September 9.

Tropical Storm Four
On October 22, the schooners Etna and Mahaska encountered this storm offshore South Carolina, leading to the track beginning on that date just north of the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas. The storm initially moved to the north, before curving northeastward by the following day. Only slight intensification likely occurred, with the system peaking with winds of 60 mph (95 km/h) early on October 24. Several hours later, however, the storm transitioned into an extratropical cyclone about halfway between Bermuda and Nova Scotia. Before dissipating northwest of Ireland on October 28, the extratropical remnants reached hurricane-equivalent intensity over the northern Atlantic, based on the ship Rhaetia recording sustained winds of 81 mph and a minimum barometric pressure of 983 mbar. A few locations in New England observed tropical-storm force sustained winds, such as 58 mph at Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts.

Chenoweth proposed the removal of this storm from HURDAT as part of his reanalysis study, published in 2014, noting "Insufficient supporting evidence from other neighboring data sources".