Active 2018 hurricane season comes to a close

Author: CBS MIAMI / WINK News
Published: Updated:

It’s November 30th and so we say goodbye to an active Hurricane Season.

This season, there were 15 named storms and 4 of those made landfall in the U.S.

The first one on the list is Alberto which formed as a pre-season Subtropical Storm over the northwestern Caribbean Sea on May 25th. Alberto then moved northward across the western Caribbean into the eastern Gulf of Mexico and eventually made landfall over the Panhandle.

Then there was Tropical Storm Gordon that formed abruptly over South Florida and made it a very wet Labor Day.

The third on the list is Hurricane Florence which became the first major hurricane of the season as it slowly tracked towards the Carolinas. Florence made landfall in North Carolina on September 14th where it slowed down, almost stalling, and became the wettest tropical system recorded in the Carolinas.

The fourth named storm to make a U.S. landfall was Hurricane Michael, which went through rapid intensification has it neared the Florida Panhandle. Michael intensified to a very strong category 4, becoming the second major hurricane of the season. As it made landfall near Mexico Beach, FL, peak wind speeds of 155 mph were recorded. Hurricane Michael became the fourth-strongest hurricane to hit the United States in terms of wind speeds.

A typical hurricane season includes 12 named storms and out of those 12, six are hurricanes. However, the 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season goes down in the books as an above average season with 15 named storms and 8 hurricanes.

Whether a hurricane season is active, average or calm remember that it only takes one storm to make it a devastating season. Certainly we witnessed that this year. What we learn time and time again, is that awareness and preparedness is key to surviving a hurricane season.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.