Put Cloudbreak on your portfolio.

Leave your email and we’ll reach out within one business day.

Prefer to talk? Call 940-391-3558.

1900 Galveston hurricane

1900 Galveston hurricane was a Category 4 hurricane at its peak, with 144 mph winds and a lowest pressure of 936 mb, per NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Modeled winds reached tropical-storm force (39 mph) at 38 of the cities we track; the strongest was League City, TX, with a modeled peak gust of 144 mph.

Peak strength144 mph winds (1-minute)
Category 4
Cities with tropical-storm-force windsModeled, of the cities we track
38
LandfallsFirst September 9, 1900
1
Lowest pressure
936 mb

Track, wind field and cities

Select a piece of the track or a city for details.

  • Depression or weaker
  • Tropical storm
  • Hurricane, Category 1 or 2
  • Major hurricane, Category 3 to 5
  • Landfall
  • City (larger ring, stronger modeled gust)
  • Modeled wind field, 39 to 111 mph sustained (darker, stronger; orange 111 mph+)
Source: NOAA/NWS National Hurricane Center best track (HURDAT2). City winds and the wind field are modeled.

The shaded areas are where our model puts 1900 Galveston hurricane’s sustained winds over open land at 39 mph or more (tropical-storm force), 58, 74 (hurricane force) and 111 mph (major hurricane force) at some point along its track. Modeled, not measured. How we model hurricane winds

Landfalls

  1. September 9, 1900, Category 4 at 138 mph, about 27 miles from League City, TX

Modeled winds at cities (38)

Estimated peak winds for open, flat ground at each city’s center. Not measurements. How we model hurricane winds

CityPeak gustSustainedClosest passPeak
League City, TX144 mph117 mph19 milesSep 8, 1900, 8:45 PM GMT-6
Pearland, TX139 mph113 mph13 milesSep 8, 1900, 9:00 PM GMT-6
Pasadena, TX130 mph106 mph25 milesSep 8, 1900, 9:15 PM GMT-6
Sugar Land, TX127 mph104 mph1 milesSep 8, 1900, 9:45 PM GMT-6
Houston, TX126 mph103 mph21 milesSep 8, 1900, 10:15 PM GMT-6
Conroe, TX101 mph82 mph42 milesSep 9, 1900, 12:15 AM GMT-6
College Station, TX95 mph77 mph13 milesSep 9, 1900, 1:45 AM GMT-6
Beaumont, TX79 mph64 mph88 milesSep 8, 1900, 5:45 PM GMT-6
Waco, TX66 mph54 mph2 milesSep 9, 1900, 6:30 AM GMT-6
Lansing, MI64 mph52 mph42 milesSep 11, 1900, 6:15 PM GMT-5
Flint, MI64 mph52 mph32 milesSep 11, 1900, 7:30 PM GMT-5
Kalamazoo, MI59 mph48 mph59 milesSep 11, 1900, 4:45 PM GMT-5
Show all 38

What happened

The 1900 Galveston hurricane crossed Cuba, strengthened quickly over the Gulf of Mexico and reached the Texas coast south of Galveston late on September 8, 1900, as a Category 4 hurricane.1 NHC's best track puts landfall at 0200 UTC on September 9 (8 p.m. CST on September 8) with 120-knot (138 mph) winds and a central pressure of 936 mb.2

Storm tides of 8 to 15 feet covered all of Galveston Island and parts of the nearby Texas coast.1 NOAA says the storm destroyed more than 3,600 buildings.3 NHC counts about 8,000 deaths, mostly from the flooding tide (estimates run from 6,000 to 12,000), and puts property damage at $30 million.1

Sources

  1. 1. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Hurricanes in History
  2. 2. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT2), 1851-2025
  3. 3. NOAA NESDIS: The Great Galveston Hurricane

Best track (81 positions)

TimeStatusWindPressurePosition
Aug 27, 00:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph15.0°N, 42.1°W
Aug 27, 06:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph15.2°N, 43.4°W
Aug 27, 12:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph15.3°N, 44.7°W
Aug 27, 18:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph15.4°N, 45.6°W
Aug 28, 00:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph15.6°N, 46.6°W
Aug 28, 06:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph15.8°N, 47.9°W
Aug 28, 12:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph16.0°N, 49.1°W
Aug 28, 18:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph16.1°N, 50.3°W
Aug 29, 00:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph16.3°N, 51.4°W
Aug 29, 06:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph16.4°N, 52.4°W
Aug 29, 12:00 UTCTropical storm46 mph16.5°N, 53.7°W
Aug 29, 18:00 UTCTropical storm46 mph16.6°N, 55.1°W
Show all 81