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50 Amazing Hurricane Facts

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Most deadly hurricane

hurricanes, tropical storms

(Image credit: NOAA)

Typical season

hurricanes, tropical storms

(Image credit: NOAA.)

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 11 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.

Late strike

hurricanes, tropical storms

Hurricane Kate on November 20, 1985. (Image credit: NOAA.)

Hurricane Kate in 1985 was the latest hurricane to strike the United States. It made landfall on Nov. 21.

Advanced appearances

Tropical Storm Debby near Florida

A ghostly Tropical Storm Debby is drenching Florida and surrounding regions. (Image credit: NOAA.)

When Tropical Storm Debby formed on June 23, 2012, it marked the first time the Atlantic basin saw four named storms before July 1 since record keeping began in 1851.

Hawaiian crisis

hurricanes, tropical storms

(Image credit: NOAA.)

The deadliest and costliest hurricane to ever hit Hawaii (in modern times) was Hurricane Iniki, which struck on Sept. 12, 1992 and caused about $3 billion in damage adjusted for inflation. The storm killed four people and affected 14,000 homes, according to the Weather Channel.

Safer waters, considering

hurricanes, tropical storms

(Image credit: NOAA.)

Only four hurricanes have made direct hits on Hawaii in the last 60 years, according to the Weather Channel: Nina in 1957, Dot in 1959, Iwa in 1982 and Iniki in 1992.

Bigger, faster

hurricanes, tropical storms

This series of images chronicles the development and decay of the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, Hurricane Bertha. (Image credit: TRMM.)

Hurricanes and other tropical cyclones reach Category 3 wind speeds (between 111 and 129 mph, or 178 and 208 kph) nearly nine hours earlier than they did 25 years ago, a 2012 study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters found.

Safety zone

hurricanes, tropical storms

November 30 marked the end of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season. Throughout the season, nineteen named storms formed over the basin, making it the third most active season on record, tied with 1887 and 1995. (Image credit: NASA/Earth Observatory.)

2010 was the first year since 1900 that saw 10 or more hurricanes develop without one hitting the United States.

One-in-four odds

hurricanes, tropical storms

(Image credit: NWS/NHC.)

Historically, one in four Atlantic hurricanes strikes the United States as a hurricane.

Live Science Staff
Live Science Staff
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