This will be one of my last blog posts for 2005. I will be away next week on vacation, spending some time with my family. My next scheduled day here in the office is Monday, January 2, 2006.
So… I guess it might be appropriate to look back and review the big weather stories of 2005. Some years it is rather difficult coming up with the top weather story, but this year there isn’t much doubt the big story was the remarkable hurricane season. It was one of historic proportion:
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the busiest on record and extends the active hurricane cycle that began in 1995—a trend likely to continue for years to come. The season included 26 named storms, including 13 hurricanes in which seven were major (Category 3 or higher). Letters of the Greek alphabet were used to name storms for the first time since storms began acquiring names in 1953, as Hurricane Wilma exhausted the original list of 21 names. Tropical Storm Alpha and Hurricane Beta hit the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, respectively. Tropical Storm Gamma brought deadly flooding to parts of Central America. Tropical Storm Delta largely stayed over open water then moved across the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa. Tropical Storm Epsilon formed on the next to last day of the Atlantic hurricane season over the central Atlantic Ocean.
Here are the noteworthy highlights of the 2005 hurricane season:
Most Numerous
* 26 Named Storms (previous record: 21 in 1933)
* 13 Hurricanes (previous record: 12 in 1969)
* Four major hurricanes hitting the U.S. (previous record: three in 2004)
* Three Category 5 Hurricanes (previous record: two in 1960 and 1961)
* Seven Tropical Storms before August 1 (previous record: five in 1997)
* Two-Year Consecutive Total of Tropical Storms: 41
(previous record: 32 most recently in 1995-96)
* Two-Year Consecutive Total of Hurricanes: 24
(previous record: 21 in 1886-87)
* Two-Year Consecutive Total of Major Hurricanes: 13
(ties record in 1950-51)
* Two-Year Consecutive Major Hurricane Landfalls: Seven
(previous record: five in 1954-55)
* Two -Year Consecutive Florida Major Hurricane Landfalls: Five
(previous record: three in 1949-50)
* Three-Year Consecutive Total of Tropical Storms: 57
(previous record: 43 most recently in 2002-04)
* Three-Year Consecutive Total of Hurricanes: 30
(previous record: 27 in 1886-8
* Three-Year Consecutive Total of Major Hurricanes: 16
(ties record in 1949-51 and 1950-52)
Costliest
Hurricane: Katrina (at least $80 billion)
(previous record Andrew, $26.5 billion - 1992 dollars)
Deadliest
U.S. Hurricane since 1928: Katrina (at least 1,300)
Strongest
* Hurricane in the Atlantic Basin: Wilma 882 millibars (mb)
(previous record: Gilbert at 888 mb)
* Three of the six strongest hurricanes on record: Wilma 882 mb (1st), Rita
897 mb (4th), Katrina 902 mb (6th)
July hurricane: Emily (155 mph top sustained winds)
(previous record: Dennis (150 mph) in 2005; Hurricane #1 (140 mph) in 1926
So… I guess it might be appropriate to look back and review the big weather stories of 2005. Some years it is rather difficult coming up with the top weather story, but this year there isn’t much doubt the big story was the remarkable hurricane season. It was one of historic proportion:
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the busiest on record and extends the active hurricane cycle that began in 1995—a trend likely to continue for years to come. The season included 26 named storms, including 13 hurricanes in which seven were major (Category 3 or higher). Letters of the Greek alphabet were used to name storms for the first time since storms began acquiring names in 1953, as Hurricane Wilma exhausted the original list of 21 names. Tropical Storm Alpha and Hurricane Beta hit the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, respectively. Tropical Storm Gamma brought deadly flooding to parts of Central America. Tropical Storm Delta largely stayed over open water then moved across the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa. Tropical Storm Epsilon formed on the next to last day of the Atlantic hurricane season over the central Atlantic Ocean.
Here are the noteworthy highlights of the 2005 hurricane season:
Most Numerous
* 26 Named Storms (previous record: 21 in 1933)
* 13 Hurricanes (previous record: 12 in 1969)
* Four major hurricanes hitting the U.S. (previous record: three in 2004)
* Three Category 5 Hurricanes (previous record: two in 1960 and 1961)
* Seven Tropical Storms before August 1 (previous record: five in 1997)
* Two-Year Consecutive Total of Tropical Storms: 41
(previous record: 32 most recently in 1995-96)
* Two-Year Consecutive Total of Hurricanes: 24
(previous record: 21 in 1886-87)
* Two-Year Consecutive Total of Major Hurricanes: 13
(ties record in 1950-51)
* Two-Year Consecutive Major Hurricane Landfalls: Seven
(previous record: five in 1954-55)
* Two -Year Consecutive Florida Major Hurricane Landfalls: Five
(previous record: three in 1949-50)
* Three-Year Consecutive Total of Tropical Storms: 57
(previous record: 43 most recently in 2002-04)
* Three-Year Consecutive Total of Hurricanes: 30
(previous record: 27 in 1886-8
* Three-Year Consecutive Total of Major Hurricanes: 16
(ties record in 1949-51 and 1950-52)
Costliest
Hurricane: Katrina (at least $80 billion)
(previous record Andrew, $26.5 billion - 1992 dollars)
Deadliest
U.S. Hurricane since 1928: Katrina (at least 1,300)
Strongest
* Hurricane in the Atlantic Basin: Wilma 882 millibars (mb)
(previous record: Gilbert at 888 mb)
* Three of the six strongest hurricanes on record: Wilma 882 mb (1st), Rita
897 mb (4th), Katrina 902 mb (6th)
July hurricane: Emily (155 mph top sustained winds)
(previous record: Dennis (150 mph) in 2005; Hurricane #1 (140 mph) in 1926
on December 22, 2005, 9:40 pm
Reply to this comment