The Labor Day hurricane was the most intense tropical cyclone known to make landfall in the Western Hemisphere, having the lowest sea level pressure ever officially recorded on land-a central pressure of 892 millibars (26.3 inHg)-suggesting an intensity of between 162 and 164 knots (186 and 189 mph). Nothing further came of this idea until June 1943, when Colonel Joe Duckworth and Lieutenant Ralph O'Hair flew into a hurricane near Galveston, Texas. He later proposed an aerial hurricane patrol. Because he was flying an open-cockpit biplane, he opted not to fly into the storm. Flying a Curtis Hawk II, Captain Povey, an American expatriate, who was the Aviation Corps' chief training officer, observed the storm north of its reported position. Captain Leonard Povey of the Aviation Corps of the Cuban Army (Cuerpo de Aviación del Ejército de Cuba) volunteered to investigate the threat to the capital. This was about 27 miles (43 km) north of Isabela de Sagua, Villa Clara, Cuba, and 145 miles (233 km) east of Havana. The Weather Bureau's 1:30 PM advisory placed the center of the hurricane at north latitude 23° 20', west longitude 80° 15', moving slowly westward. The first recorded instance of an aircraft flown for the specific purpose of locating a hurricane occurred on the afternoon of September 2, 1935. The storm continued into the North Atlantic Ocean, where it merged with an extratropical cyclone on September 10. The storm finally emerged over the open Atlantic near Cape Henry. The storm sped up and rapidly weakened over the Mid-Atlantic states, causing heavy rainfall, with the highest total being 16.7 inches (420 mm) in Easton, Maryland. After leaving the Keys, the storm weakened as it skirted the Florida gulf coast, making a second landfall at Cedar Keys. The storm made landfall late on September 2 near Long Key, at peak intensity, with an intensity of 892 millibars (26.3 inHg) and 1-minute sustained winds of 185 mph (298 km/h). The storm had an eye 9–10 miles (14–16 km) across. The storm then explosively intensified and turned toward the Florida Keys at a speed of 10 mph. It reached hurricane intensity near the south end of Andros Island on September 1. By August 31, a definite tropical depression appeared near Long Island in the southeastern Bahamas and quickly intensified. The hurricane also caused more damage in northwest Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.Įxtratropical cyclone, remnant low, tropical disturbance, or monsoon depressionĪn area of disturbed weather developed northeast of the Turks Islands toward the end of August. In addition, many veterans died in work camps created for the construction of the Overseas Highway, in part due to poor working conditions. Portions of the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway were severely damaged or destroyed. The hurricane's strong winds and the surge destroyed nearly all the structures between Tavernier and Marathon. The hurricane caused catastrophic damage in the upper Florida Keys, as a storm surge of approximately 18 to 20 feet (5.5 to 6.1 m) swept over the low-lying islands. The storm continued northwestward along the Florida west coast, weakening before making its second landfall near Cedar Key, Florida, on September 4. The waters quickly receded after carving new channels connecting the bay with the ocean however, gale-force winds and rough seas persisted into Tuesday, disrupting rescue efforts. The region was swept by a massive storm surge as the eye passed over the area. The hurricane intensified rapidly, passing near Long Key on Labor Day evening, September 2. The fourth tropical cyclone, third tropical storm, second hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 1935 Atlantic hurricane season, it is one of four Category 5 hurricanes on record to strike the contiguous United States, along with Hurricane Camille (1969), Hurricane Andrew (1992), and Hurricane Michael (2018). The Great Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 was, for several decades, the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record in terms of barometric pressure, until surpassed by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, and the strongest at landfall by 1-minute sustained winds, until equalled by Hurricane Dorian in 2019. Part of the 1935 Atlantic hurricane season The Bahamas, Florida Keys, Southwest and North Florida ( Big Bend), Georgia, The Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, New England (Lowest recorded in the United States, Third-lowest recorded in the Atlantic) Weather Bureau surface weather map of the hurricane moving up the west coast of Florida
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