Major October Hurricanes: Past and Present

Hurricane Opal making landfall in October 1995  (Source: NOAA)

Although September is the busiest month of the hurricane season, the season continues until the end of November.  Many damaging and deadly hurricanes have occurred across the Atlantic Ocean Basin in October.  On this date 20 years ago, the remnants of an infamous hurricane left its mark on the Mid-Atlantic Region.

2014:  Hurricane Gonzalo formed in mid-October and was the strongest hurricane of the 2014 season.  At peak intensity, Gonzalo had sustained winds of 145 mph with a minimum air pressure of 940 millibars, making it a solid Category Four hurricane.  It’s important to note that air pressure is a more accurate measure of the intensity of a hurricane than wind speed.  The lower the air pressure, the stronger the storm is.  Standard sea level pressure is approximately 1013 millibars, so 940 millibars is symbolic of a strong area of low pressure.  Although Gonzalo weakened to a Category Two storm before passing over Bermuda, it still caused roughly $400 million in damage.

2002:  Hurricane Lili came ashore in Louisiana as a Category 1 on October 3.  Lili caused extensive damage totaling $860 million in 2002.  At its strongest, Lili was a Category Four hurricane – like Gonzalo – with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 938 millibars.  Lili was the first hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Floyd in 1999.

1998:  Mitch was upgraded to hurricane status on October 24 in the western Caribbean Sea.  Due to favorable environmental conditions, Mitch quickly intensified into one of the most intense hurricanes on record.  At peak intensity, Hurricane Mitch was a Category Five monster with sustained winds of 180 mph and a minimum air pressure of 905 millibars.  Although Mitch weakened before impacting Central America, it still caused devastating flooding in Nicaragua and Honduras.  NOAA’s estimated death toll for Hurricane Mitch was approximately 11,000.  Mitch was the first Category Five hurricane to form in the Atlantic Ocean since Andrew in 1992. 

1995:  This was one of the busiest hurricane seasons on record, with a total of 19 named tropical storms, 10 of which became hurricanes and of those, 5 became major hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean.  The strongest hurricane of the season was Hurricane Opal.  At peak intensity, Opal was a very dangerous Category Four hurricane with sustained winds of 150 mph and a minimum air pressure of 916 millibars.  To some, that air pressure might seem unusually low for a Category Four hurricane.  The National Hurricane Center noted that Opal had the lowest air pressure of any Atlantic hurricane on record that did not become a Category Five.  

Fortunately, Opal weakened to a Category Three hurricane before making landfall near Pensacola, Florida on October 4.  In fact, on October 5, 1995, Opal’s remnants passed through the Mid-Atlantic Region where they caused three tornadoes in the DC Metro Region – one each in Anne Arundel, Prince George’s and Charles Counties in Maryland.