“Maria devastates Puerto Rico”; “Jose threatens the Northeast”; “Florida braces for Irma”; “St.Maarten in ruins”; “Harvey slams Houston”
If you’ve been watching the news or listening to a weather station, you are likely mind blown by the strength of the Atlantic’s hurricane season so far. Storm after storm has thrown itself at the land in and around the Gulf of Mexico, and along the east coast, destroying the land in their paths and impacting millions of people. So, if you’re curiously mind blown like me, you may be wondering: is this a typical hurricane season? Has the world witnessed worse weather? With these questions in mind, I undertook a brief investigation of hurricanes in history, and discovered some pretty fascinating facts.
It’s important to know about the intensity of hurricanes. Meteorologists look at factors like wind speed, storm surge, pressure and damage when classifying a hurricane. A category 1 hurricane demonstrates 74-95 mph winds, a storm surge of 4-5 feet, pressure above 979 millibars, and minimal damage. On the other end of the scale, a category 5 hurricane features wind gusts above 155 mph, storm surge over 18 feet, pressure below 920 millibars, and catastrophic damage. Hurricane Katrina – the storm that devastated the southeast back in 2005 – was a category 5 hurricane. Katrina is the costliest Atlantic hurricane in history. Katrina is among the top five deadliest hurricanes to impact the U.S. The recent Hurricane Irma has joined this top group. The Great Hurricane of 1780 is the deadliest Atlantic hurricane to date. Based in the Caribbean, the Great Hurricane killed over 20,000 people. Wow.
So, there’s a brief rundown of some hurricanes in history, but undoubtedly the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season will be remembered in history for it’s power in such a short span of time.