1940-1944

1939

I forgot to mention it in my last post, but there *was* a pretty significant storm in another ocean, the California tropical storm, which lived up to its name: it made landfall as a tropical storm around Long Beach. The rain was unusually heavy for Los Angeles and there was extensive flooding. No tropical storm has made landfall on California since then.

1940

The worst storm of the year hit Savannah and the surrounding area as a Cat-1 storm. The storm caused over 10 inches of rain over a wide area in South Carolina and Virginia, where its remnant ended up. Dozens died, millions were cost.

1941

Two significant storms hit the US this year. The first hit Texas around Matagorda Bay costing $7 million. Houston saw winds equivalent to those experienced 67 years later. The storm also had a notably unusual track. The second storm was also a featured article, as was the season itself. It made landfall south of Miami and again in the Panhandle. The storm seems to have been notable for causing unusually little rainfall in Florida, with places near the center of the storm getting an inch or less. So the damage was done by wind instead, which brought salt water undiluted by copious rainfall farther inland than normal. The hurricane was actually less costly than the Texas hurricane earlier in the season.

1942

No hurricanes from this season have Wikipedia articles. Two hurricanes did hit Texas: one at Crystal Beach the other at Palacios. Both were Cat-1's at landfall so they probably didn't do too much damage.

1943

Texas had a fair number of hurricanes back in the 1940s...the hurricane that hit this year was quite notable. It's the Surprise Hurricane and had several unique features. First, it formed and struck in late July. Hurricanes do hit Texas in July (Dolly, Claudette) but it's more common for them to hit in August and September. Second, a plane flew (intentionally) into the hurricane - this was the first such occurrence. (Now it happens regularly) Third, although officially only a cat-1 at landfall, it produced quite a bit of wind damage throughout Houston, which has led to theories it might have been stronger than cat-1. Fourth, news about the storm was censored. Its existence was unknown outside TX and LA. Two refineries were shut down because of damage - again, this was censored. Many measurements of the storm were destroyed. There has been no censorship of hurricane advisories since this storm.

1944

Two big storms in this season. The first was the little sibling of the 1938 storm, the Great Atlantic hurricane (an official name, actually - the first officially named storm). The storm managed to sink a Navy destroyer and several other ships. The storm grazed the Outer Banks and made landfall in Long and Rhode Island.

The other storm of the season struck Cuba and Florida - western Cuba and Sarasota. Wiki sez the storm would be extremely costly today - it hit Sarasota as a Cat-1, but Sarasota is a populated area so the storm probably would cause a lot of little damage. If that makes sense. The storm was definitely a lot worse in Cuba. Western Cuba is such a hurricane magnet.