October’s Hurricane Power

Hurricane Michael, October 2018  (Source: NOAA)

Although September is the busiest month of the Atlantic hurricane season, the tropics often remain active well into October.  Some of the most powerful hurricanes on record have occurred in October, including several Category 5 hurricanes.

2018 – Hurricane Michael became only the fourth Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States.  It was the first to do so since Hurricane Andrew 26 years earlier and it remains one of the few hurricanes that intensified up until its landfall.  Michael reached its peak intensity as it made landfall along the Florida panhandle with sustained winds of 160 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 919 millibars (mb).  That part of Florida had seen several Category 3 hurricanes, but never a Category 4 or 5 storm.

2016 – Hurricane Matthew was the first Category 5 hurricane to develop in the Atlantic Ocean since 2007.  That’s not to say there weren’t multiple destructive and deadly hurricanes during that time frame such as Ike, Irene and Joaquin, but none had reached Category 5 intensity.  Matthew had sustained winds of 165 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 934 millibars at its peak intensity.

2005 – This season broke virtually every hurricane record that was on the books for the Atlantic Ocean.  Prior to 2005, no more than two Category 5 hurricanes had developed in a single season.  Hurricane Wilma was not only the fourth, but it became the strongest hurricane on record for the Atlantic Ocean Basin.  At peak intensity, Wilma had sustained winds of 185 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 882 millibars.  That broke Hurricane Gilbert’s 1988 record of 888 mb.  Wilma made landfall on the southwest coast of Florida as a Category 3 storm.

1998 – Hurricane Mitch set several important benchmarks during its existence.  It ended a modest six-year stretch without a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, being the first since Andrew in 1992.  Mitch was also the Atlantic’s first October Category 5 since “Hattie” in 1961.  At peak intensity, Mitch had sustained winds of 180 mph and a minimum air pressure of 905 millibars.  Mitch caused devastating flooding in Central America that claimed more than 10,000 lives.