1945 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1945 Atlantic hurricane season produced multiple landfalling tropical cyclones. It officially began on June 16 and lasted until October 31, dates delimiting the period when a majority of storms were perceived to form in the Atlantic Ocean. A total of 11 systems were documented, including a late-season cyclone retroactively added a decade later. Five of the eleven systems intensified into hurricanes, and two further attained their peaks as major hurricanes. Activity began with the formation of a tropical storm in the Caribbean on June 20, which then made landfalls in Florida and North Carolina at hurricane intensity, causing one death and at least $75,000 in damage. In late August, a Category 3 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale struck the Texas coastline, with 3 deaths and $20.1 million in damage. The most powerful hurricane of the season, reaching Category 4 intensity, wrought severe damage throughout the Bahamas and East Coast of the United States, namely Florida, in mid-September; 26 people were killed and damage reached $60 million. A hurricane moved ashore the coastline of Belize in early October, causing one death, while the final cyclone of the year resulted in 5 deaths and $2 million in damage across Cuba and the Bahamas two weeks later. Overall, 36 people were killed and damage reached at least $82.85 million.

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Timeline

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Systems

Hurricane One

The first tropical cyclone of the 1945 season formed about southeast of Cozumel around 12:00 UTC on June 20. It tracked north through the Yucatán Channel before turning sharply northeast, simultaneously attaining hurricane intensity early on June 23. Although the crew of a reconnaissance aircraft assessed peak winds of around 18:00 UTC that day, modern reanalysis suggests the cyclone peaked as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of . Maximum sustained winds fell to as the system moved ashore near Spring Hill, Florida at 08:00 UTC on June 24, with continued weakening inland. After emerging into the southwestern Atlantic, it regained minimal hurricane intensity and made a second landfall along Harkers Island, North Carolina. The system continued northeast and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone early on June 27, persisting for several days until last documented near Iceland on July 4.

Damage from the hurricane throughout Florida was relatively minor. Citrus trees were stripped of their branches, roadways were washed out, and some telephone and power lines were toppled, temporarily severing communication. Tampa recorded a record 24-hour rainfall total of , Statewide, the heavy precipitation was regarded as beneficial in ending one of the worst recorded droughts there. Farther north, telephone communications around Georgetown, South Carolina were disrupted, while winds gusted as high as and rainfall peaked at in Charleston. In Wilmington, North Carolina, of rain was observed, causing considerable damage to the city's storm sewer system. Although the core of the cyclone passed east of New England, at least 10,000 telephone lines were downed by the storm. Buildings, crops, and trees were damaged, while low visibility led to a traffic accident that killed a man in Warwick, Rhode Island.

Tropical Storm Two

A tropical wave organized into a tropical depression in the central Gulf of Mexico by 06:00 UTC on July 19. The system moved west-northwest after formation, reaching tropical storm intensity early the next day. Despite a well-established circulation as indicated by weather balloons, Squally weather and rough seas were observed along the coastline from Grand Isle, Louisiana to Port Aransas, Texas. Missing Puerto Rico to the south, the cyclone then moved ashore west of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic at peak strength early on August 4. including up to of rainfall on Montserrat in a 24-hour period.

Tropical Storm Four

Two weeks after the dissipation of Tropical Storm Three, a reconnaissance aircraft confirmed the formation of a new tropical storm in the same vicinity. The cyclone moved west-northwest north of the Caribbean Sea, reaching peak winds of by 12:00 UTC on August 18, just shy of its originally assessed hurricane intensity. The storm's impacts in Texas, meanwhile, were regarded as the worst since the 1933 Cuba–Brownsville hurricane. Up to two-thirds of the coastline experienced hurricane-force winds, with a peak gust of recorded in Collegeport. Massive storm tides, as high as in Port Lavaca, inundated coastal locales and eroded up to of the shore; this was the third largest storm surge documented along the Texas coastline at the time. Rainfall amounts exceeded along the coastline. Catastrophic losses to crops and livestock were sustained throughout the region. Three deaths occurred in total, including one via a tornado near Houston and two via a capsized fishing vessel offshore Port Isabel, while damage reached $20.1 million.

Tropical Storm Six

A tropical storm formed southeast of the Nicaragua–Honduras border early on August 29 and tracked northeast. After curving north and then west, the cyclone attained peak winds of over the Gulf of Honduras early on August 31. It moved ashore near Belize City, Belize at peak strength, where heavy rainfall and high tides resulted in flooding of within the city. The system then curved north throughout the central portions of the state before emerging offshore and making a second landfall near Savannah, Georgia, with winds of . A continued northward track brought the cyclone into the South Atlantic states, where it completed extratropical transition roughly east-northeast of Danville, Virginia. The post-tropical cyclone fluctuated in strength and was last noted east of Newfoundland on September 20.

On Grand Turk Island, up to three quarters of the structures there were demolished and the remainder sustained at least minimal damage. Heavy damage occurred on Long Island, Bahamas as well. Reports suggested that up to 22 people may have been killed across the Turks and Caicos Islands. In Florida, the highest measured wind gust topped at Carysfort Reef Light. A total of 1,632 residences were destroyed while an additional 5,372 others received damage, particularly near the landfall point in Homestead. Naval Air Station Richmond suffered catastrophic losses when high winds ignited a fire that engulfed 25 blimps, 366 airplanes, and 150 automobiles across three hangars. Although the station's weather equipment failed, an inspection of the hurricane's damage led to the conclusion that gusts may have reached there. Throughout the remainder of the state, communications were severed by downed telephone lines, crops were ruined, thousands of livestock were killed, and 4 people perished. In Richmond County, Virginia, broken dams led to significant flash flooding.

Hurricane Ten

Early on October 2, the tenth tropical storm of the season was noted about northeast of the Nicaragua–Honduras border. It intensified into a Category 1 hurricane by 00:00 UTC the next day on a general west-northwest track and peaked with winds of 24 hours later, although the crew aboard a reconnaissance aircraft originally estimated sustained winds.

Hurricane Eleven

The final Atlantic hurricane of 1945 was not officially documented until over a decade following the end of the season. Using re-analyzed surface weather maps, as well as recounts from local residents along the storm's path, it was discovered that a tropical depression formed south of Jamaica in the southwestern Caribbean Sea by 12:00 UTC on October 10. The compact storm moved north and then north-northeast ahead of a stationary front that existed from the western Atlantic into the Bay of Campeche. It became a minimal hurricane over the Cayman Islands by 00:00 UTC on October 12 and attained its peak at Category 2 intensity with winds of while making landfall along a deserted southern stretch of Cuba. The storm emerged into the Bahamas while maintaining Category 1 strength before becoming intertwined with the frontal zone and transitioning into an extratropical cyclone southwest of Bermuda.

A small area of low pressure formed north of Honduras on September 26 and is surmised to have developed into a tropical depression before moving ashore two days later. In late September, an extratropical cyclone formed along a front west of the Azores. The low detached from the front and acquired either subtropical or fully tropical characteristics on September 27 before it was engulfed by another cold front the following day. Yet another extratropical low formed along a front in the northeastern Atlantic on October 4. With a broad circulation and minimal temperature gradient, the system may have briefly acquired subtropical qualities on October 7 before it transitioned into an extratropical low again the next day. Finally, on October 19, a closed area of low pressure developed between Miami and the Bahamas, possibly in connection with a frontal zone. Given the system's compact circulation, it is likely a tropical depression formed and progressed northeast before the low transitioned into an extratropical cyclone over the north central Atlantic.