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The 1911 Atlantic hurricane season was a relatively inactive hurricane season, with only six known tropical cyclones forming in the Atlantic during the summer and fall. There were three suspected tropical depressions, including one that began the season in February and one that ended the season when it dissipated in December. Three storms intensified into hurricanes, two of which attained Category 2 status on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. Storm data is largely based on the Atlantic hurricane database, which underwent a thorough revision for the period between 1911 and 1914 in 2005.
Most of the cyclones directly impacted land. A westward-moving hurricane killed 17 people and severely damaged Charleston, South Carolina, and the surrounding area in late August. A couple of weeks earlier, the Pensacola, Florida area had a storm in the Gulf of Mexico that produced winds of over land. The fourth storm of the season struck the coast of Nicaragua, killing 10 and causing extensive damage.
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Season summary
The Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT) officially recognizes six tropical cyclones from the 1911 season. Only three attained hurricane status, with winds of or greater. The third hurricane of the season was the most intense storm, with a minimum central air pressure of . A week after its dissipation, another hurricane formed with wind speeds that matched the previous storm, but with unknown air pressure. Three weak tropical depressions developed and remained below tropical storm force; the first formed in February and the third in December. The first storm to reach tropical storm intensity developed on August 4, and the final tropical storm of the year dissipated on October 31. ACE is a metric used to express the energy used by a tropical cyclone during its lifetime. Therefore, a storm with a longer duration will have high values of ACE. It is only calculated at six-hour increments in which specific tropical and subtropical systems are either at or above sustained wind speeds of 39 mph (63 km/h), which is the threshold for tropical storm intensity. Thus, tropical depressions are not included here.
Timeline
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Systems
Tropical Storm One
Identified by its lack of associated frontal boundaries and closed circulation center, the first tropical cyclone of the 1911 season formed on August 4 over southern Alabama in the United States. At only tropical depression strength, it tracked eastward and emerged into the Atlantic Ocean the next day. Several days later, while located near Bermuda, the depression became a tropical storm and turned northeastward. The storm lasted several more days until dissipating on August 11. The storm produced heavy rainfall on the Bermuda, but no gale-force winds were reported. The storm was unknown until the 2005 Atlantic hurricane database revision recognized it as a tropical storm. It developed into a tropical depression at 12:00 UTC on August 8, and strengthened into a tropical storm at 06:00 UTC on August 9 while moving northwestward off the west coast of Florida. Gradual intensification continued, and at 06:00 UTC on August 11 the storm strengthened to hurricane status. At 22:00 UTC on August 11, the hurricane reached its peak intensity and concurrently made landfall near the border between Alabama and Florida as a small tropical cyclone. Although the lowest barometric pressure measured on land was 1007 mbar (hPa; 29.74 inHg) in Pensacola, Florida, the storm's pressure was estimated to be much lower at 982 mbar (hPa: 29.00 inHg). The hurricane's outer rainbands affected the Florida panhandle as early as August 10, producing winds as strong as in Pensacola, During the afternoon of August 11, the United States Weather Bureau issued storm warnings for coastal areas of the gulf coast where the hurricane was expected to impact. Upon making landfall, the storm brought heavy precipitation, peaking at in Molino, Florida, although the heaviest rainfall was localized from Mississippi to central Alabama. Some washouts occurred during brief episodes of heavy rain as the storm drifted westward after landfall. cutting off communication to outside areas for 24 hours. A pavilion on Santa Rosa Island had a third of its roof torn, and some other buildings inland were also unroofed. Offshore, twelve barges were grounded after being swept by the rough surf. Heavy losses were reported to timber after they were swept away when log booms failed. the winds unroofed hundreds of buildings, demolished many houses and had an extensive impact on power and telephone services. Tides above normal left a "confused mass of wrecked vessels and damaged wharfs", according to a local forecaster in Charleston, In total, 17 people were killed in the hurricane, and property damage in Charleston was estimated at $1 million (1911 USD, $ 2014 USD). Data on this storm is extremely scarce; as such, only minor revisions could be made to its chronology in the hurricane database. The disturbance was the precursor to a tropical depression which developed over the southern Bahamas and headed west-southwestward across Cuba,
Tropical depressions
In addition to the six officially recognized tropical storms and hurricanes, three tropical depressions in the 1911 season have been identified. The first developed in February from a trough of low pressure in the open Atlantic and progressed westward. Although a ship dubiously reported winds of over in association with the system, a lack of supporting evidence precludes its designation as a tropical storm. The cyclone dissipated by February 21. The second depression evolved from an extratropical cyclone in mid- to late May, becoming a tropical cyclone on May 22 northeast of Bermuda. It persisted for three days as it meandered around the same general area before being absorbed by another non-tropical storm. The modern-day documentation of this system was also hindered by a lack of data. On December 11, the third tropical depression formed near the Turks and Caicos Islands. It progressed westward and was situated just north of eastern Cuba the next day. The system began to weaken on December 13 and dissipated shortly thereafter.