September’s Strongest and Most Destructive Hurricanes

Hurricane Hugo headed for South Carolina (9/21/1989, Source: NOAA)

September is traditionally the busiest month of the Atlantic hurricane season and has seen some significant storms over the course of history.  Whenever a hurricane causes a lot of fatalities or is particularly damaging, the World Meteorological Organization retires its name so it can never be used again.  For example, there will never been another “Katrina,” “Sandy” or “Andrew.”  Here are four September hurricanes that have all had their names retired:

2007: Hurricane Felix was a Category 5 hurricane that formed in the Atlantic Ocean Basin during the 2007 season.  Felix’s highest sustained winds reached 175 mph and its lowest air pressure fell to 929 millibars.  Hurricane Felix tracked relatively far south through the Caribbean Sea and made landfall near the border of Nicaragua and Honduras on September 4.  Tragically, Felix caused widespread damage and multiple fatalities.  Hurricane Felix is also significant because it was the last Category 5 hurricane to form in the Atlantic Ocean. 

2004: Hurricane Ivan was the strongest hurricane of a busier-than-average hurricane season.  It was also a Category 5 storm that caused significant damage to the island nations of Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and the Cayman Islands.  It remains in the top ten for strongest hurricanes to form in the Atlantic Ocean.  Air pressure is considered a more accurate measure of hurricane intensity than wind speed, and at peak intensity Hurricane Ivan’s lowest air pressure was 910 millibars and highest sustained winds around the center of the storm were 165 mph.  By comparison, standard sea level air pressure is approximately 1013 millibars.  Fortunately, Ivan weakened to Category 3 intensity before it made landfall in Alabama on September 16.  Nevertheless, it caused nearly $19 billion in damage according to the National Hurricane Center, making it the 6^th costliest U.S. hurricane on record.

1998:  The most damaging storm to affect the United States in 1998 was Hurricane Georges.  At peak intensity, Georges was a borderline Category 4/Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 155 mph and a minimum air pressure of 937 millibars.  Georges had a long and destructive track across many island nations in the Caribbean where it caused widespread damage and multiple fatalities.  Hurricane Georges’ final landfall came along the U.S. Gulf Coast on September 28 near Biloxi, Mississippi.

1989:  Hurricane Hugo was one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever make landfall in South Carolina when it came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane on September 22.  At one point, Hugo was a rare Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 160 mph.  Fortunately, Hugo didn’t make landfall at that intensity, but did cause widespread damage and dozens of fatalities in the Caribbean.  Hugo also had the unfortunate distinction of being the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history up until that time having caused $10 billion worth of damage.