The 1942 Atlantic hurricane season was one of seven seasons to feature multiple hurricane landfalls in Texas. The season officially lasted from June 16, 1942, to October 31, 1942. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. A total of 11 tropical storms from 1943 are listed in the Atlantic hurricane database, with two additional tropical depressions. The first system of the year, a tropical depression, developed over the central Gulf of Mexico on June 3, while the last system, the Belize hurricane, dissipated over the Yucatán Peninsula on November 11. After the depression dissipated on June 3, the season remained dormant until the next system developed two months later. In mid-August, a hurricane struck Texas, causing about $790,000 (1942 USD) in damage.
The most significant tropical cyclone of the season, known as the Matagorda hurricane, developed on August 23. After striking the Yucatán Peninsula, the storm entered the Gulf of Mexico and intensified into a Category 3 hurricane on Saffir–Simpson scale, becoming the only major hurricane of the season. The hurricane devastated southern Texas, with damage as far inland as San Antonio. Eight fatalities and about $26.5 million in damage were reported. Several of the proceeding tropical systems left little impact on land, though the remnants of the ninth tropical storm contributed to severe flooding in Virginia. In November, a hurricane caused extensive impact in several coastal communities of Belize (then known as British Honduras). The hurricane left nine deaths and about $4 million in damage.
The season's activity was reflected with an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) rating of 66 units, below the 1931–1943 average of 91.2. ACE is a metric used to express the energy used by a tropical cyclone during its lifetime. Therefore, a storm with a longer duration will have high values of ACE. It is only calculated at six-hour increments in which specific tropical and subtropical systems are either at or above sustained wind speeds of 39 mph (63 km/h), which is the threshold for tropical storm intensity. Thus, tropical depressions are not included here.
Timeline
Systems
Tropical Storm One
On August 1, a low-pressure area was first detected in the vicinity of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. However, data at the time was not conclusively indicative of a tropical cyclone. The tropical low was later analyzed to have sufficiently organized to be classified as a tropical depression by 0000 UTC on August 3, as it moved westward in the Gulf of Honduras. Six hours later, the depression was estimated to have intensified into a tropical storm based on barometric readings from Tela, Honduras, and Belize City. Shortly after, the tropical storm made landfall in British Honduras with winds of 40 mph (65 km/h). The tropical cyclone weakened to a tropical depression during its trek over the Yucatán Peninsula before emerging into the Bay of Campeche on August 4. Over water, the storm reintensified and attained its peak intensity with winds of 60 mph (95 km/h) at 0600 UTC on the following day . Three hours later, the storm made its final landfall south of Tampico, Mexico, at the same intensity, before weakening over the mountainous terrain of Mexico and dissipating late on August 5.
Upon landfall near Tampico, a station in the city recorded a minimum barometric pressure of 1,004 mbar (hPa; 29.65 inHg), the lowest pressure measured in association with the storm. Due to a lack of available weather ships in the region because of World War II, no ships documented the tropical cyclone. In Texas, the tropical cyclone caused light rainfall, damaging local cotton crops. Strong wind gusts were observed in the Rio Grande Valley.