1932 Bahamas hurricane
| Category 5 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Surface weather analysis of the storm on September 6
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| Formed | August 30, 1932 |
|---|---|
| Dissipated | September 17, 1932 |
| (Extratropical after September 9) | |
| Highest winds |
1-minute sustained: 160 mph (260 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | ≤ 921 mbar (hPa); 27.2 inHg |
| Fatalities | 16 direct |
| Areas affected | Bahamas, northeastern United States, Newfoundland, Iceland |
| Part of the 1932 Atlantic hurricane season | |
The 1932 Bahamas hurricane, also known as the Great Abaco hurricane of 1932, was a large and powerful Category 5 hurricane that struck the Bahamas at peak intensity. The fourth tropical storm and third hurricane in the 1932 Atlantic hurricane season, it was also one of two Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean that year, the other being the 1932 Cuba hurricane. The 1932 Bahamas hurricane originated north of the Virgin Islands, became a strong hurricane, and passed over the northern Bahamas before recurving. The storm never made landfall on the continental United States, but its effects were felt in the northeast part of the country and in the Bahamas, especially on the Abaco Islands, where damage was very great. As of 2016, it is one of only three Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall in the Bahamas at that intensity, the others having occurred in 1933 and 1992.
The system was first detected just to the north of the Virgin Islands as a tropical depression late on August 30. The storm moved generally west-northwest, passing to the north of the Greater Antilles and Grand Turk on the night of September 2–3. It reached minimal hurricane intensity as it passed near the Turks and Caicos Islands, and began a period of rapid strengthening shortly thereafter. It became a major hurricane early on September 4 and reached winds of 140 miles per hour (230 km/h), equivalent to those of a Category 4 hurricane, as early as the afternoon. As late as the evening of September 4, however, no winds of hurricane force were reported to the United States Weather Bureau, the highest wind being 60 mph (97 km/h) from a ship 285 mi (458.66 km) east of Miami, Florida.
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