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| 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season (Source: NOAA) |
A system becomes a
tropical storm and is given a name when sustained winds around the center of
the storm reach 39 mph. Once sustained winds reach 74 mph it is upgraded
to hurricane status. A “major” hurricane has sustained winds of
111/+ mph and is classified as a Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.
The first named Atlantic
storm of 2018, Alberto, made landfall in the Florida panhandle on May 28.
Although it was initially a subtropical storm, Alberto became a tropical storm
by the time it made landfall. Alberto was also one of six storms this
season that spent time as a subtropical storm.
The strongest hurricane
of the season was Michael in early October.
It was a high-level Category 4 hurricane at peak intensity, with
sustained winds of 155 mph (a Category 5 hurricane has sustained winds of 157/+
mph) and a minimum central air pressure of 919 millibars. Hurricane Michael was the first Category 4
hurricane on record to make landfall in the Florida panhandle. It also
had the third lowest air pressure of any landfalling hurricane in the United
States – behind only the unnamed 1935 Florida Keys Labor Day hurricane and
Hurricane Camille in 1969.
Hurricane Florence was
the other major hurricane of the 2018 season.
It weakened below major hurricane status before it made landfall but
caused devastating flooding across parts of the Mid-Atlantic and southeastern
United States. For the first time since 2014, the month of November will
not have a named storm in the Atlantic Ocean Basin.
The 2016, 2017 and 2018
Atlantic hurricane seasons were remarkably similar in terms of total number of
named storms. The three-year period finished with an average of nearly 16
tropical storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes. Hurricane
Matthew in 2016 as well as Irma and Maria reached Category 5 intensity last
year.
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