Hurricane Charlie (1951)

Hurricane Charlie

Surface weather analysis of the hurricane on August 19
Meteorological history
Formed	August 12, 1951 (1951-08-12)
Dissipated	August 23, 1951 (1951-08-23)
Category 4 major hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds	130 mph (215 km/h)
Highest gusts	160 mph (260 km/h)
Lowest pressure	≤958 mbar (hPa); ≤28.29 inHg (estimated)
Overall effects
Fatalities	259+
Damage	$75 million (1951 USD)
Areas affected	Lesser Antilles Jamaica Cayman Islands Yucatán Peninsula Tamaulipas Texas
IBTrACS
Part of the 1951 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Charlie was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane of the 1951 Atlantic hurricane season, the most powerful tropical cyclone to strike the island of Jamaica until Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, and at the time the worst natural disaster to affect that island. The third named storm, second hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, it developed from a tropical wave east of the Lesser Antilles. It moved briskly west-northwest, passing between the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe. It strengthened to a hurricane in the eastern Caribbean Sea, and it struck Jamaica as a high-end Category 3 hurricane. It strengthened to a peak intensity of 130 mph (215 km/h) prior to landfall on Quintana Roo, Yucatán Peninsula. It weakened over land, but re-strengthened over the Gulf of Mexico before making a final landfall near Tampico with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h).

In its path, Charlie, dubbed the Killer Hurricane by international media, caused more than 250 deaths, ranking among the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes of the 20th century. The hurricane produced Jamaica's deadliest natural disaster of the 20th century, causing more than 152 deaths and $50,000,000 in damages. The hurricane was described as Tampico's worst tropical cyclone since 1936, and it caused more than 100 fatalities in the surrounding areas. Many bodies were not recovered after flooding. The hurricane produced peak gusts of 160 mph (260 km/h) at the airport, and its strongest sustained winds were unmeasured in mainland Mexico, giving rise to suggestions at the time that it may have been a Category 4 hurricane at landfall, though available data indicate that it was more likely a marginal Category 3 hurricane upon striking land in Tamaulipas.