This thesis research involves a reanalysis of the National Hurricane Center?s Atlantic Basin Hurricane Database (HURDAT) for 1916, 1918, 1927, 1928, and 1935. Newly available meteorological records from ship logs (COADS) along with recently discovered historical documents were used to reassess tropical cyclone location and intensity. Tropical cyclone track and intensity alterations are discussed in detail in a supporting metadata file. The overall results of the reanalysis process were minor alterations, with some major changes, to the track and intensity of tropical cyclones in HURDAT. Four tropical storms were added: one in 1918, one in 1927, and two in 1935. Three tropical storms were deleted: one in 1918 and two in 1916. However, the overall tropical activity remained nearly the same for the study period. This research is significant because it will strengthen our understanding of hurricane climatology and improve forecast models that utilize HURDAT.

HURDAT is the main historical archive of all tropical storms and hurricanes in the North Atlantic Basin, which includes the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, from 1851 to the present. HURDAT is maintained and updated annually by the National Hurricane Center at Miami, Florida. Today, HURDAT is widely used by research scientists, operational hurricane forecasters, insurance companies, emergency managers and others. HURDAT contains both systematic biases and random errors. Thus, the reanalysis of HURDAT is vital. For this thesis, HURDAT is reanalyzed for the period of 1954-1963. The track and intensity of each existing tropical cyclone in HURDAT is assessed in the light of 21st century understanding and previously unrecognized tropical cyclones are detected and analyzed. The resulting changes will be recommended to the National Hurricane Center Best Track Change Committee for inclusion in HURDAT.