1780–1789 Atlantic hurricane seasons

The List of Atlantic hurricanes in the 18th century encompasses all known Atlantic tropical cyclones from 1700 to 1799. While not all data for every storm that occurred is available, some parts of the coastline were populated enough to give data of hurricane occurrences.

Moved onshore in North Carolina and traveled up through Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Traveled up through New England. A localized, storm surge is reported to have reached heights of between 20 and 30 feet in Newfoundland destroying many English and Irish ships. Many sailors drowned. Over 4,000 people died off of Newfoundland mainly from storm surge and still is Canada's deadliest natural disaster.

An analysis by hurricane scholar Michael Chenoweth indicated the tropical cyclone was of at least hurricane strength, or with maximum sustained winds of at least 74 mph (119 km/h), when it struck Guadeloupe. The same analysis indicated the storm also affected Antigua and Martinique early in its duration, and later it struck Louisiana on September 12. The storm struck a large convoy of French and Dutch merchant ships, sinking or running aground 60% of the vessels. The ships were transporting goods to Europe.

The 1780 Atlantic hurricane season was extraordinarily destructive, and was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history with over 25,000 deaths. Four different hurricanes, three in October and one in June, caused at least 1,000 deaths each; this event has never been repeated and only in the 1893 and 2005 seasons were there two such hurricanes. The season also held the deadliest Atlantic tropical cyclone of all time.

Additionally, 1780 was a turning point in Caribbean habitation and trade, marking the end of a long period of economic boom that started in the early 1500s and marked the beginning of economic decline for the region as news of the devastating hurricanes spread. Eight different storms battered the West Indies including three killer storms in the month of October alone. Tens of thousands were killed across the Caribbean onshore from storm surge, powerful winds and many thousands more killed offshore on sunken ships. The hurricanes struck the Caribbean in the midst of the American Revolutionary War as British and French navies were vying for control over the region and the hurricanes did considerable damage to both fleets wrecking numerous ships and drowning many.

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