Where that turn takes place is crucial for determining a storm’s eventual path. The clockwise flow of air around that High helps steer Atlantic hurricanes west towards the Caribbean, and then bends them northwest, and eventually northward. Large-scale climate features, like the so-called “Bermuda High” that sprawls out across the Central North Atlantic during the summer, also help determine whether a hurricane will churn westward toward the U.S. Once they form over the warm waters of the North Atlantic Basin, hurricanes are steered by both internal dynamics and the weather systems that surround them. show no clear, statistically significant trend over time, despite changes to the environment in which hurricanes are forming, such as global warming. Historical records of landfalling storms in the U.S. Click on image for larger version.īut why has the country been so lucky, and what does this major hurricane drought suggest about the upcoming hurricane season, which is off to an unusually active start?Īccording to hurricane researchers, the spell of relative calm between major hurricanes is mainly due to the random variability that is inherent in the weather and climate. Colorado researcher Roger Pielke Jr., showing the record gap between landfall dates of major hurricanes in the U.S. economy is also a lot shakier, and less capable of absorbing the shock from a devastating natural disaster.Ĭhart created by U. The population of Florida alone grew by 17 percent between 20, with about a million people added since 2005, according to U.S. For one thing, there are now more people, with more property, living and working in vulnerable coastal areas than there were seven years ago. Will our luck run out this year? If it does, it’s not likely to be pretty. The last storm to strike with such fury was Hurricane Wilma, which made landfall in Southwest Florida in October 2005. will have gone a record 2,412 days since the last major hurricane - with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater - struck these shores. When the 2012 North Atlantic hurricane season starts on June 1, the U.S.
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