Hurricane Prevention

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Hurricane Records and Facts


  • Earliest tropical storm formed: Subtropical Storm One, January 18, 1978, through January 23, 1978, 45 mph. Excluding this subtropical storm, the Groundhog Day Tropical Storm of 1952 February 2, 1952-February 3, 1952 with 50 mph winds was the earliest formed in a calendar year.




  • Earliest Hurricane formed in a calendar year: March 6, 1908 Hurricane





  • Earliest Category 3+ hurricane : Hurricane Able, May 15, 1951 (In May/June 1825 there was a major hurricane also, but there is less information available about it due to the records of the time.)





  • Earliest hurricane in existence in a calendar year: Hurricane Alice, January 1-6, 80mpg 1955 (and December 31, 1954), formed the previous year. The earliest tropical storm was Tropical Storm Zeta in 2005-2006 (see below)





  • Latest tropical storm formed: Tropical Storm Zeta, 11am AST, December 30, 2005. Previous, Hurricane Alice 1am EST, December 30, 1954.





  • Latest hurricane formed: Hurricane Alice 1am EST, December 30, 1954. The only two cross-season storms on record are Hurricane Alice in 1954-1955 and Tropical Storm Zeta 2005-2006 (See below).





  • Latest hurricane in existence from previous year: Hurricane Alice, 1954-1955, January 6, 1955 (see Tropical Storm Zeta, January 6, 2006 for the latest Tropical Storm in existence)





  • Strongest (most intense) hurricane: Hurricane Wilma 2005, 882 millibars (mb) (the previous most intense hurricane was Hurricane Gilbert 1988 at 888 mb)





  • Strongest land-falling United States Hurricane: Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, 160mph 892 mbar





  • Longest lived hurricane :Hurricane San Ciriaco, August 1899 (28 days), Hurricane Ginger September 1971 (27.25 days), Hurricane Inga September 1969, 24.75 days, Hurricane Kyle September 2002, 22 days, Hurricane Carrie, September 1957 & Hurricane Inez September 1966 (20.75 days).





  • Longest Category 5 hurricane: Hurricane Allen, 1980, reached Category 5 status on 3 occasions (Ivan and Isabel did the same, but Allen lasted longer). Hurricane Dog 1950 2.50 days; Hurricane Isabel 2003, Hurricane David 1979, Hurricane Mitch 1998 all 1.75 days.





  • Most storms per season: 28 in 2005 season (revised upward by 1 April 2006) (previous: 21 named storms in 1933).





  • Fewest storms per season (since 1965): 1983 4 storms; 1965, 1977, 1982, 1986, 6 storms; 1972, 1987, 1992, 1994, 7 storms





  • What happens if they run out of names? The Greek alphabet is used: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, eta, theta,iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu xi, omikron, pi, rho, sigma,tau,upsilon,phi, chi, psi, omega.





  • When do they start with the following season's names? January 1 of the year, not June 1st when the Atlantic hurricane season begins or May 15th for the Pacific hurricane season. However storms that overlap from one calendar year into another are not renamed.





  • Strongest January hurricane: Hurricane Alice, January 1955, 80 mph winds (peak January 2, 1955) (The naming is a story in itself since it became a tropical storm Dec 30, 1954 but advisories weren't issued until January 1955, so it was given the name Alice, which made it the second Alice for 1954 - at that time names were re-used each year), December 30, 1954-January 6, 1955. Tropical Storm Zeta December 30, 2005-January 6, 2006. Subtropical Storm One, January 18, 1978 45 mph winds is the only storm formed in January.





  • Strongest February tropical storm: Groundhog Day Storm of 1952 February 2, 1952-February 3, 1952, 50 mph





  • Strongest March hurricane: March 6, 1908 Hurricane, category 2 storm.





  • Strongest April tropical storm: Ana 2003 (the only April storm in fact), April 20-April 24, 60 mph winds, 994 mb





  • Strongest May hurricane:Hurricane Able 1951 (Category 3), 1908 Hurricane (Category ?), Alma 1970 (Cat 1), Tropical Storm 1933, May 15, 1887 (70mph) & May 17, 1887 (60 mph), earliest two storms active at once. Tropical Storm One, May 22, 1948 (50mph). Tropical Storm One, May 19, 1940.





  • Strongest June hurricane: Hurricane Audrey, June 25-29, 1957 (145mph, 946 mbar) (see also Alma 1966, 130 mph, 970 mbar and Agnes June 14-25, 1972 did a lot of damage, 85mph, 977 mbar)





  • Strongest July hurricane: Emily, 2005 (161 mph top sustained winds - earliest recorded category 5 hurricane) (previous record: Dennis (150 mph) 2005; Hurricane #1 (140 mph) in 1926.





  • Strongest August hurricane: Allen 1980 899 mbar, 190 mph (see also Katrina, 2005 175 mph sustained winds, 902 mbar; Hurricane Camille, August 1969, 190 mph, 905 mbar; Andrew, August 1992, 175mph, 922 mbar)





  • Strongest September hurricane: Gilbert, 185 mph, 888 mbar, (see Rita, 2005 175 mph, 897 mbar; Hurricane Janet, 1955, 175mph 914 mb)





  • Strongest October hurricane: Wilma 2005, 175 mph, 882 mbar. Wilma became the most intense hurricane in the Atlantic Basin ever recorded.





  • Strongest November hurricane: Lenny, 1999, November 13-23. 155 mph, 933 mbar. Also notable for its eastward motion. Tied with Michelle in 2001 based on central pressure of 933 mbar, 140 mph wind.





  • Strongest December hurricane: 1925 Hurricane, December 4, 1925, (100mph); see Hurricane Epsilon 2005 , 85mph, 979 mbar and Hurricane Nicole of 1998 85mph; see also Hurricane Lili 1984 80mph. Hurricane Epsilon 2005 is the longest lasting December storm.





  • Season with most hurricanes: 2005 with 15 Hurricanes (previous record: 12 in 1969)





  • Most major hurricanes hitting the U.S.: 4 in 2005 (previous record: three in 2004). Major hurricanes are category 3+.





  • Most tornadoes spawned: Hurricane Frances, 2004 (123), Hurricane Ivan 2004 (117), Hurricane Beulah 1967, (115), Hurricane Katrina 2005 (30). Hurricane Andrew also was notable for its tornados in the South Miami area.





  • Most Category 5 Hurricanes in one season: 4 in 2005 (Emily, Katrina, Rita, Wilma) (previous record: two in 1960 and 1961)





  • Most Tropical Storms/hurricanes before August 1: 7 in 2005 (previous record: five in 1997)





  • Most two-year consecutive total Tropical Storms: 2004-2005, 41 (previous record: 32 most recently in 1995-96)





  • Most two-year consecutive total Hurricanes: 2005, 25 (previous record: 21 in 1886-87)





  • Most Two-Year Consecutive Total of Major Hurricanes: 2004-2005, 13 (ties record in 1950-51)





  • Most Two-Year Consecutive Major Hurricane Landfalls: 2004-2005, Seven (previous record: five in 1954-55)





  • Most Two-Year Consecutive Florida Major Hurricane Landfalls: 2004-2005, Five (previous record: three in 1949-50)





  • Most Three-Year Consecutive Total of Tropical Storms: 2003,2004,2005, 57 (previous record: 43 most recently in 2002-04)





  • Most Three-Year Consecutive Total of Hurricanes: 2005, 31 (previous record: 27 in 1886-88)





  • Most Three-Year Consecutive Total of Major Hurricanes: 2003,2004,2005, 16 (ties record in 1949-51 and 1950-52)





  • Deadliest U.S. Hurricane since 1928: Katrina, 2005 (at least 1,300).




    • 2005 had three of the six strongest hurricanes on record: Wilma 882 mb (1st), Rita 897 mb (4th), Katrina 902 mb (6th)

  • Earliest hurricane to strike the United States: Alma struck northwest Florida on June 9, 1966.





  • Four hurricanes have existed simultaneously twice: August 22, 1893 and September 25-27, 1998 with Georges, Ivan, Jeanne and Karl as hurricanes. In 1971 there were 5 tropical cyclones simultaneously, but only 2 were hurricanes.





  • Latest hurricane to strike the U. S.: late on November 30, 1925 near Tampa, Florida.





  • Most storm names retired in a single year: 2005, 5 names. Previous record 4 names in 1955, 1995 and, 2004.





  • Only Tropical Storm (e.g. it never was a hurricane) name retired: Allison, 2001. It was a huge rain event and did enough damage to be retired.





  • Longest July Tropical System (Hurricane or Tropical Storm):





  • Earliest far-East Atlantic storm: Hurricane Bertha (July 3, 2008-July 20, 2008) (surpassing 1995's Bertha which formed 2 days later and several hundred miles to the west)





  • Longest lasting July Hurricane/Tropical Storm: Hurricane Bertha, July 3, 2008-July 20, 2008.





  • Most landfalls in a particular state, Florida: Tropical Storm Fay, 2008, when it hit the Florida Keys, Southwest Florida (near Naples), Northeast Florida (near Flagler Beach), and the Florida Panhandle (near Apalachicola, Florida).





  • Fastest moving hurricane or tropical storm:Now the question here is what are the fastest moving storms? This is important because forward speed can impact both wind velocity and surge, and decrease the flooding from rain. The fastest recorded hurricane was "The Long Island Express" in 1938, a category 3 storm. It was travelling between 60 and 70 miles per hour!





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