Great Coastal Hurricane of 1806
| Category 2 hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Rose-in-Bloom overturning during the hurricane
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| Formed | 17 August 1806 |
|---|---|
| Dissipated | 25 August 1806 |
| Highest winds |
1-minute sustained: 110 mph (175 km/h) |
| Fatalities | at least 24 total |
| Damage | $171,000 (1806 USD) |
| Areas affected | The Bahamas, Southeastern United States, Virginia, New England |
| Part of the 1806 Atlantic hurricane season | |
The 1806 Great Coastal hurricane was a severe and damaging storm along the East Coast of the United States which produced upwards of 36 in (91 cm) of rainfall in parts of Massachusetts. First observed east of the Lesser Antilles on 17 August, the hurricane arrived at the Bahamas by 19 August. The disturbance continued to drift northward and made landfall at the mouth of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina on 22 August. The storm soon moved out to sea as a Category 2-equivalent hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, persisting off of New England before dissipating south of Nova Scotia on 25 August as a markedly weaker storm. Several French and British military ships were damaged out at sea. In the Carolinas, salt, sugar, rice, and lumber industries suffered considerably, and several individuals were killed. Wharves and vessels endured moderate damage, with many ships wrecked on North Carolinan barrier islands. A majority of the deaths caused by the hurricane occurred aboard the Rose-in-Bloom offshore of Barnegat Inlet, New Jersey, with 21 of the ship's 48 passengers killed and $171,000 (1806 USD) in damage to its cargo. Upon arriving in New England, reports indicated extreme rainfall, though no deaths were reported; in all, the hurricane killed more than 24 individuals along the entirety of its track.
The Great Coastal hurricane of 1806 was first noted far east of the Lesser Antilles on 17 August. Weather historian David M. Ludlum followed the disturbance's track to the Bahamas by 19 August; intense winds persisted until 21 August, however, approximately 150 mi (240 km) east of the Bahamian island of Eleuthera. Steering currents brought the storm northward, and it approached Charleston, South Carolina on 22 August, where a generally easterly flow preceded the storm indicated its passage far east of the city. The hurricane made landfall at the mouth of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina later that day, though the earliest impacts from the storm started several days earlier, with gusts initially toward the northeast but later curving southwestward. Reports of similar wind shifts throughout the region suggested that the gale persisted, stationary, for several hours. It eventually moved back out to sea while south of Norfolk, Virginia, departing the region on 24 August. The hurricane maintained 1-minute maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 km/h) while offshore, equivalent to a Category 2 system on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. While offshore New England, the gale featured a swath of winds 90 mi (150 km) wide, and was last observed just south of Nova Scotia on 25 August slightly weaker, with sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h).
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