Every so often a hurricane name that is retired is more destructive than a hurricane with the same name. There are several examples of this. For example 1964 Hurricane Hilda was a destructive hurricane that decimated Louisiana. However, Hilda of 1955 was more destructive. The Hilda in 1955 caused 310 deaths and $120 million in damages. Yet it was 1964's Hurricane Hilda that was retired and not the 1955 version.

Another example is Hurricane Klaus. The name Klaus was retired after the 1990 season. In 1990 Hurricane Klaus caused severe damage from wind and flooding to the small island of Martinique, which is about the size of an average state county in the USA, a territory of France. Klaus in 1984 was more destructive in terms dollars causing over $150 million in damages. Yet it was 1990's Hurricane Klaus that got retired and not the 1984 version.

Today's focus is going to be on 1984's Hurricane Klaus. Klaus was the most destructive storm from the 1984 season. The 1984 season used the 6 out of 6 of rotating naming lists. List 1 would be reused in 1985. The 1980's also brought advancement in satellites and computer models, which had been around for a while. The 1984 season was above average in terms of named storms, average in hurricanes, but below average in major hurricanes. The season was influenced by a La Nina despite ASO being negative.

Klaus was a classic November hurricane as it developed in the Caribbean. Typically in November hurricanes develop in the Caribbean or around the Gulf Stream. A frontal System was in the Central Atlantic with the tail of this system reaching the Central Caribbean. On November 2nd a low pressure developed at the end of the frontal systems tail separating itself from the main front. On November 3rd the low pressure system started to develop more thunderstorm activity and started to show signs of rotating. Models started to hint that a tropical storm was developing.

On November the 4th Satellite data indicated winds where 35 mph but the low pressure had not closed off at the surface yet. On November the 5th the low pressure was named a tropical depression with winds 30-35 mph. The National Hurricane Center forecasted strengthening due to the warm waters of the Caribbean. The next day the depression wind's increased to 40 mph and it was named Klaus.

Klaus underwent rapid deepening as it started to pick up speed. Later that night on November the 6th Klaus had winds up to 60 mph. Strengthening continued until landfall. On November 7th Klaus made landfall in Puerto Rico with winds up to 70 mph, just shy of being a hurricane. The National Hurricane Center stated that had Klaus had just a few more hours over water it would have become a hurricane.

On November 8th Klaus emerged of the Northern coast of Puerto Rico as a 60 mph storm. Due to warm waters the storm started to reorganize again. Later that night Klaus became a 75 mph category 1 hurricane while picking up speed and moving in a Northeast pattern. Further strengthening occurred and Klaus reached its peak of 90 mph o November the 9th. This made Klaus a high end category 1 hurricane. Klaus's intensity did not change on the 10th.

On the 11th an approaching cold front started to inject colder air into Klaus. In addition, Klaus was starting to move over cooler waters. Thus, Klaus started a slow weakening trend. The winds went from 90 mph to 80 mph. On the 12th winds decreased to 70 mph and later that night they decreased to 65 mph. By the 13th Klaus transitioned from a tropical system to a powerful non tropical low with winds of 65 mph.

In Puerto Rico Klaus caused historic flooding that the US Territory had not seen in decades. The floods caused houses to float off their foundation, and over 80% of Puerto Rico's agriculture was severe damaged or destroyed. The flooding also killed 2 people and caused $152 million in damages. This made Klaus the most destructive hurricane of the 1984 season. It should be noted most of the storms of the 84 season stayed out to sea.

In Summary, Klaus was very destructive to the US Territory of Puerto Rico. Despite the damage to Puerto Rico and the historic flooding the name was not retired and was reused in 1990. 1990's Hurricane Klaus would cause severe flooding to the French territory of Martinique. After 1990 the name Klaus would be retired. But as I stated this should have been the Klaus to have been retired. It is unknown why the name was not retired. The most likely reason is the US did not request retirement.

In my opinion 1984's Klaus should have been the Klaus to get retired. 1990's Klaus deserved to be retired due to its destruction, but Klaus should not have been used as a name after 1984. While the deaths where low from 84's Klaus mainly due to tropical storm and hurricane warnings. The flooding was historic. Almost all of the damage from Klaus came from historic flooding.