page_title: 1940 Atlantic hurricane season
section_title: Tropical depressions
hierarchical_section_title: 1940 Atlantic hurricane season / Systems / Tropical depressions
caption_attribution_description: English: Surface weather analysis of a tropical depression over the Atlantic Ocean on October 14, 1940.
context_page_description: The 1940 Atlantic hurricane season was a generally average period of tropical cyclogenesis in 1940. Though the season had no official bounds, most tropical cyclone activity occurred during August and September. Throughout the year, fourteen tropical cyclones formed, of which nine reached tropical storm intensity; six were hurricanes. None of the hurricanes reached major hurricane intensity. Tropical cyclones that did not approach populated areas or shipping lanes, especially if they were relatively weak and of short duration, may have remained undetected. Because technologies such as satellite monitoring were not available until the 1960s, historical data on tropical cyclones from this period are often not reliable. As a result of a reanalysis project which analyzed the season in 2012, an additional hurricane was added to HURDAT. The year's first tropical storm formed on May 19 off the northern coast of Hispaniola. At the time, this was a rare occurrence, as only four other tropical disturbances were known to have formed prior during this period; since then, reanalysis of previous seasons has concluded that there were more than four tropical cyclones in May before 1940.
context_section_description: In addition to the storms which attained at least tropical storm strength in 1940, five additional tropical depressions were analyzed by the HURDAT reanalysis project to have developed during the season. Due to their weak intensity, however, they were not added to HURDAT. On September 2, a closed low-pressure area was detected in the open Atlantic Ocean southeast of Bermuda and was analyzed as a tropical depression. At the time, the disturbance had a minimum pressure of at least 1015 mbar (hPa; 29.98 inHg). The depression initially moved to the southeast, but later recurved towards the northwest over the next two days. On September 4, the S.S. West Kebar en route for Boston, Massachusetts reported winds of 40 mph (65 km/h), which would be considered as tropical storm-force winds. The depression later moved to the northeast before it was absorbed by a stationary front on September 7. Since there was only one report that the disturbance may have reached tropical storm intensity, it was not included in HURDAT. Later on September 10, a trough was detected in a similar region in the Atlantic where the first depression formed. The trough later became sufficiently organized to be classified as a tropical depression. The cyclone moved slowly to the east and did not further intensify before dissipating on September 13.
  On October 7, a large elongated extratropical cyclone extended across the Atlantic Ocean with a pressure of at most 1015 mbar (hPa; 29.98 inHg). The following day, the low-pressure area became more narrow and well-defined, with its central pressure deepening to 1000 mbar (hPa; 29.53 inHg). On October 9, the extratropical system was analyzed to have become a tropical depression. The low moved slowly to the northeast and gradually weakened before dissipating on October 10. On October 14, offshore observations indicated that a tropical depression had developed north of The Bahamas. The following day, however, the depression became less defined and degenerated into a trough of low pressure. On October 16, two ships listed in the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set reported winds of 40 mph (65 km/h) off the coast of North Carolina. However, since these reports occurred in a higher pressure gradient, the system was not included in HURDAT.
  On November 2, a trough of low-pressure was analyzed near the Lesser Antilles. The system moved westward into the Caribbean Sea without much organization. On November 7, the low-pressure area moved south of Cuba and became sufficiently organized to be considered a tropical depression with a pressure of at least 1010 mbar (hPa; 29.83 inHg). The depression moved over Cuba and into the Atlantic, where it dissipated the following day. On November 9, a second system was detected northeast of Bermuda with a pressure of 1005 mbar (hPa; 29.68 inHg), though it remained unclear whether the two systems were related.
caption: A tropical depression off the east coast of Florida on October 14
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