Compared to previous years, hurricane activity in the Atlantic has been relatively quiet, although the Gulf of Mexico has had a busy hurricane and tropical storm season so far. We are just now entering the most active part of the hurricane season, a period which officially ends on November 30.

Global warming, which has accounted for consistent warming of ocean waters, has attributed to a doubling of the number of hurricanes that develop each year over the past 100 years. Over the past century, the temperature of the Atlantic Ocean surface has increased about .65 degrees Fahrenheit. It is the warm ocean waters that fuel hurricane development. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the number of annual hurricanes have increased by nearly five from 3.5 to 8.4 per year.

What are hurricanes?

Here are some facts:

  • Hurricanes are huge, swirling storms with fierce winds of at least 74 miles per hour rotating around a usually calm center of low atmospheric pressure. These storms occur in the Atlantic Ocean. These same storms form in the Pacific, but are called typhoons. With maximum sustained winds under 73 miles per hour, these storms are known as tropical storms. If the maximum sustained winds drop below 39 miles per hours, they are known as tropical depressions. Under 24 miles per hours, they are called tropical disturbances.
  • The official hurricane season is June 1 through November 30. The months of heaviest activity traditionally have been August and Spetember.
  • Hurricanes and typhoons only form north of the equator. Their winds spin in a counter-clockwise direction. Parallel storms that form south of the equator are called cyclones. Their winds spin in a clockwise direction.
  • Hurricanes and cyclones cannot cross the equator. This is because the Earth’s rotation sends them off in a direction away from the equator.
  • Most powerful hurricanes on record:: Hurricane Allen in 1980 and Hurricane Camille in 1969 are the most powerful hurricanes recorded in modern history. Both category five hurricanes reached sustained winds of 190-plus miles per hour. Hurricane Allen down-graded to a category three hurricane before making landfall near Brownsville, Texas. Camille however grazed the tip of Cuba and then made landfall in Louisiana as a category five storm. It dissipated over the US mainland as it travelled up through Virginia, leaving a torrential wake of destruction behind it.