The 1932 Bahamas hurricane, also known as the Great Abaco hurricane of 1932, was a large and powerful Category 5 hurricane that struck the Bahamas at peak intensity. The fourth tropical storm and third hurricane in the 1932 Atlantic hurricane season, it was also one of two Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean that year, the other being the 1932 Cuba hurricane. The 1932 Bahamas hurricane originated north of the Virgin Islands, became a strong hurricane, and passed over the northern Bahamas before recurving. The storm never made landfall on the continental United States, but its effects were felt in the northeast part of the country and in the Bahamas, especially on the Abaco Islands, where damage was very great. To date, it is one of four Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall in the Bahamas at that intensity, the others having occurred in 1933, 1992, and 2019.
Meteorological history
The system was first detected just to the north of the Virgin Islands as a tropical depression late on August 30. The storm moved generally west-northwest, passing to the north of the Greater Antilles and Grand Turk on the night of September 2–3. It reached minimal hurricane intensity as it passed near the Turks and Caicos Islands, and began a period of rapid strengthening shortly thereafter. It became a major hurricane early on September 4 and reached winds of , equivalent to those of a Category 4 hurricane, as early as the afternoon. As late as the evening of September 4, however, no winds of hurricane force were reported to the United States Weather Bureau, the highest wind being from a ship east of Miami, Florida.
The storm passed just to the east of the main islands and Nassau while continuing to strengthen. A gradual turn to the northwest and north began soon, and late on September 5 the storm peaked at Category 5 status with estimated maximum sustained winds of around at this time. Maintaining strength, the storm passed over Great Abaco on September 5 and gradually began to curve northeast away from the mainland United States. It continued northeast while weakening in intensity, delivering sea swells to the northeastern United States and winds of to Nantucket as the storm bypassed New England. The storm became extratropical on September 9, crossed south of the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland and Labrador, on September 11, and eventually passed near the Snæfellsnes, Iceland, and Jan Mayen. The storm's remnants then turned eastward, eventually dissipating over the Barents Sea on September 17.
Preparations
Initially, storm warnings in the United States were placed at 15:00 UTC on September 5 from Daytona Beach, Florida, to Punta Gorda, Florida. Due to the warnings, residents in the affected areas began boarding up windows and completing other preparations. As the cyclone later appeared to miss South Florida, the first warnings were cancelled and new storm warnings issued between Daytona Beach and Wilmington, North Carolina. By early September 7, warnings were extended up the Eastern Seaboard to Eastport, Maine.
Impact
16 people were reported killed, along with an additional 300 injured. This entire toll occurred in the Bahamas, notably on and around Abaco Island; damage estimates in dollars, however, were not released. Despite the large size and great intensity of the hurricane, ample warnings prevented loss of life and commerce at sea.
Bahamas
As the storm passed north of Cat Island, it caused a pressure of and a wind of from the north. Although the cyclone passed within of the Bahamian capital Nassau, the storm only caused winds up to and no significant damage there.