The 1868 Atlantic hurricane season was among the quietest on record, with only four

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

s recorded. Initially, there were no known storms during the season, although a re-analysis confirmed the activity. All tropical activity occurred within a 45‑day span. There may have been other unconfirmed tropical cyclones during the season. Meteorologist

Christopher Landsea Christopher William "Chris" Landsea is an American meteorologist, formerly a research meteorologist with the Hurricane Research Division of the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory at NOAA, and now the Science and Operations Office ...

estimates up to six storms were missed from the official database, due to small tropical cyclone size, sparse ship reports, and relatively unpopulated coastlines. Only one of the storms, the second, made

landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

, doing so near

Apalachicola, Florida Apalachicola ( ) is a city and the county seat of Franklin County, Florida, United States, on the shore of Apalachicola Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico. The population was 2,341 at the 2020 census. History The Apalachicola Province, a ...

. It produced heavy rainfall and gusty winds across the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

, although there was no severe damage associated with the storm. The first hurricane killed two people when a ship passed through its winds for 14 hours. The third hurricane, located in the western

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

, did not affect land, although two ships experienced its strong winds. The final hurricane lasted three days across the western Atlantic, forcing one ship to halt its voyage due to storm damage. __TOC__

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:200 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20 Legend = columns:3 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:270 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/09/1868 till:01/11/1868 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/09/1868 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:GP value:red id:TD value:rgb(0.43,0.76,0.92) legend:Tropical_Depression_=_≤38_mph_(≤62_km/h) id:TS value:rgb(0.3,1,1) legend:Tropical_Storm_=_39–73_mph_(63–117_km/h) id:C1 value:rgb(1,1,0.85) legend:Category_1_=_74–95_mph_(118–153_km/h) id:C2 value:rgb(1,0.85,0.55) legend:Category_2_=_96–110_mph_(154–177_km/h) id:C3 value:rgb(1,0.62,0.35) legend:Category_3_=_111–129_mph_(178–208_km/h) id:C4 value:rgb(1,0.45,0.54) legend:Category_4_=_130–156_mph_(209–251_km/h) id:C5 value:rgb(0.55,0.46,0.90) legend:Category_5_=_≥157_mph_(≥252_km/h) Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:Month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:10 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:03/09/1868 till:07/09/1868 color:C2 text:"One (C2)" from:01/10/1868 till:06/10/1868 color:TS text:"Two (TS)" from:05/10/1868 till:07/10/1868 color:C2 text:"Three (C2)" from:15/10/1868 till:17/10/1868 color:C2 text:"Four (C2)" bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/09/1868 till:01/10/1868 text:September from:01/10/1868 till:01/11/1868 text:October TextData = pos:(570,30) text:"(From the" pos:(617,30) text:" Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale)"

Systems

Hurricane One

The first known tropical cyclone of the season was observed on September 3, about halfway between the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

and

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

. A nearby ship estimated winds of 80 mph (130 km), indicating the presence of the hurricane. It moved northward initially, passing about west of Bermuda on September 4. Thereafter, the hurricane turned toward the northeast, and the ship "John Richardson" encountered

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .

force winds on September 5, resulting in a wreck of its cargo. On September 6, it was estimated to have reached peak winds of , based on observations from the ship with the call sign "Greenock". The hurricane lashed the ship with strong winds for 14 hours, killing the captain and one crewman. At the time, it was about southeast of

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

. Turning to the northeast, the hurricane passed south of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

before last being observed on September 7.

Tropical Storm Two

A ship sunk in the western Gulf of Mexico on October 1, which was the first indication of the second tropical cyclone of the season. The storm moved slowly northeastward toward the southeastern Louisiana coastline, intensifying to its estimated peak winds of . On October 4, it passed near or over southeastern Louisiana, producing heavy rain and gusty winds in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Flooding was observed in portions of the city, and the

West Rigolets Light The West Rigolets Light was a lighthouse which stood at the west end of the Rigolets where the channel meets Lake Pontchartrain. Built in 1855, it was deactivated sometime around World War II and was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Histo ...

house on

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ; ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from w ...

suffered $5,000 in damage due to the storm (1868 USD, $81,000 2010 USD). The storm accelerated northeastward and struck near

late on October 4. As the storm crossed over the

Florida panhandle The Florida panhandle (also known as West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long, bordered by Alabama on the west and north, Georgia (U.S. state ...

and southeastern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, the winds weakened to , although it still produced heavy rainfall and gusty winds in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

. No severe damage was reported in the city. The tropical storm continued northeastward, emerging into the western Atlantic and paralleling the coastlines of the Carolinas just offshore. Several ships reported strong winds and rough seas. On October 6, the storm restrengthened to its peak intensity before becoming an

extratropical cyclone Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...

about southeast of

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

; however, one meteorologist assessed it as acquiring extratropical characteristics after it exited Georgia into the western Atlantic. As an extratropical storm, it reached winds of , based on a ship report south of

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (), is the list of regions of Canada, region of Eastern Canada comprising four provinces: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. As of 2021, the landma ...

. Late on October 7, the storm was last observed to the south of Newfoundland. The storm was the only one in the season not to attain hurricane status.

Hurricane Three

As the previous storm was moving along the coastline of the southeastern United States, a new hurricane was observed in the western

, about halfway between

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. Its intensity, based on a ship report, was estimated at . The hurricane moved slowly west-northwestward, and another ship experienced its strong winds on October 7. There were no further observations, so its complete track is unknown.

Hurricane Four

The final known hurricane of the season was observed on October 15, to the northeast of the central Bahamas. The ship "Jim Cow", en route from New York to Panama, suffered heavy damage from the storm, so much that it could not complete its voyage. Moving generally northeastward, the hurricane was estimated to have reached peak winds of , based on ship reports. On October 17 the cyclone was absorbed by a rapidly intensifying

off the coast of

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. It never affected land.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1868 Atlantic Hurricane Season Atlantic hurricane seasons Articles which contain graphical timelines 1868 natural disasters 1868 meteorology September 1868 October 1868