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1899 Hurricane San Ciriaco

1899 Hurricane San Ciriaco, also known as the 1899 Puerto Rico Hurricane, was an intense and long-lived Atlantic Cape Verde-type hurricane which crossed Puerto Rico over the two day period August 8 to August 9, 1899. Many deaths occurred as a result, due to flooding. The cyclone kept tropical storm strength or higher for 28 days, which makes it the longest duration Atlantic hurricane on record and the second-longest anywhere in the world (behind Hurricane John in 1994). The estimated ACE of 73.57 is the highest ever recorded in the Atlantic basin.

Meteorological history

The tropical storm that later ravaged Puerto Rico developed on August 3 in the tropical Atlantic, likely from a tropical wave. It moved in a west-northwest direction, becoming a hurricane on the 5th. As it neared the northern Lesser Antilles, it strengthened into a major hurricane, bringing strong winds to Dominica, St. Kitts, and Guadeloupe on the 7th. It continued to intensify to its peak of before hitting southeast Puerto Rico on the 8th, the namesday of Saint Cyriacus. It crossed the island in an east-southeast to west-northwest direction, causing maximum wind speeds between throughout.

After it passed Puerto Rico, it brushed northern Dominican Republic as a Category 3 hurricane, but passed north enough to not cause major damage. It passed through the Bahamas, retaining its strength as it moved slowly northward. After drifting northeastward, the hurricane turned northwestward, hitting the Outer Banks on August 17. It drifted northeastward over the state, re-emerging into the Atlantic on the 19th. It continued eastward, where it became extratropical on the 22nd.

The extratropical cyclone turned southeastward where, on August 26, it became a tropical storm again. Like most of the rest of its lifetime, it drifted, first to the northwest then to the east. It strengthened as it moved eastward, and on September 3, as it was moving through the Azores, it again became a hurricane. The intensification didn't last long, and the hurricane became extratropical for the final time on the 4th. It dissipated that day while racing across the northeastern Atlantic.

Impact

Estimates of storm-related fatalities range from 3,100 to 3,400, with millions of dollars in crop damage in Puerto Rico. North Carolina had considerable tobacco and corn damage from the longevity of the strong winds and rain.

Overall, the island was swamped by 28 days of rain, contributing to the overall disaster (see History of Puerto Rico).

Records

Hurricane San Ciriaco set many records on its path. Killing nearly 3,500 people in Puerto Rico, it was the deadliest hurricane to hit the island and the strongest at the time, until 30 years later when the island was hit by the Hurricane San Felipe Segundo, a Category 5 hurricane, in 1928. It was also the tenth deadliest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded.

Also, with an Accumulated cyclone energy of 73.57, it has the highest ACE of any Atlantic hurricane in history. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan became the second Atlantic hurricane to surpass an ACE value of 70, but did not surpass the San Ciriaco hurricane either.

San Ciriaco is also the longest lasting Atlantic hurricane in recorded history, lasting for 28 days (31 including subtropical time).