1932 Florida–Alabama hurricane

1932 Florida–Alabama hurricane

Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Surface weather analysis of the storm on August 30
Formed	August 26, 1932
Dissipated	September 4, 1932
(Extratropical after September 2)
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 85 mph (140 km/h)
Lowest pressure	979 mbar (hPa); 28.91 inHg
Fatalities	1 indirect
Damage	$229,000 (1932 USD)
Areas affected	Turks and Caicos Islands, The Bahamas, Southeastern United States, Midwest United States, Ontario, Quebec
Part of the 1932 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1932 Florida–Alabama hurricane was a tropical cyclone that made two separate landfalls on the United States, causing devastation in affected areas. The third named storm and hurricane of the 1932 Atlantic hurricane season, it developed from a tropical disturbance north of Hispaniola on August 26. Slowly moving towards the west-northwest, the system intensified to tropical storm strength before making landfall on South Florida early on August 30. After crossing the Florida peninsula and entering the Gulf of Mexico, the system reached peak intensity as a Category 1 hurricane, before subsequently making its final landfall near the Mississippi–Alabama border on September 1. Over land, the hurricane weakened, and after becoming an extratropical cyclone on September 2, merged with another extratropical system over Quebec on September 4.

At the storm's initial landfall in southern Florida, heavy rains and strong winds caused extensive damage to crops, particularly to avocado and citrus. As the strengthening hurricane moved to the northwest through the Gulf of Mexico, it generated strong surf that caused severe damage to coastal areas across western Florida. At its second landfall, hurricane force winds were produced across a wide swath of the coast. Agricultural lands in coastal regions of Mississippi and Alabama were damaged by strong winds and heavy rain. The hurricane caused one indirect death and $228,500 in total damages across its path.

A tropical disturbance was first noted southeast of Puerto Rico on August 24. Moving to the northwest at 10 mph (15 km/h), the area of disturbed weather eventually crossed the island. The Atlantic HURDAT database first lists the system as a tropical depression at 1800 UTC on August 26 while located north of Haiti, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 km/h). Steadily intensifying, the depression intensified to tropical storm strength at 1800 UTC on August 27. The strengthening tropical storm passed to the south of Andros Island during the evening of August 29, before making its first landfall 35 mi (55 km) south of Miami, Florida on Key Largo at 0400 UTC the next day as a strong, compact tropical storm with winds of 65 mph (100 km/h). A weather station located at the Fowey Rocks Light recorded a peak wind gust of 89 mph (143 km/h). In the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project, it was evidenced that the storm may have been a hurricane upon landfall on Florida. After slightly weakening over land, the tropical storm entered the Gulf of Mexico in the early morning hours of August 30, while located 30 mi (48 km) south of Fort Myers.