A closer look at some November hurricanes

 

Hurricane Paloma, 2008 (Source: NOAA)

November is the final month of the Atlantic hurricane season when major hurricanes are increasingly rare compared with earlier in the season. However, earlier this month Rafael became the Atlantic’s first major November hurricane since 2020. A “major” hurricane is defined as a Category 3 or greater storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale with sustained winds of at least 111 mph.

Rafael (2024): A late-season storm, Rafael became a major hurricane on November 6 shortly before making landfall in Cuba as a Category 3 storm. Its peak sustained winds reached 120 mph with a minimum central air pressure of 956 millibars (mb). By comparison, standard sea level air pressure is approximately 1013 mb. Although Rafael is weakening and will not make landfall in the United States, it did briefly regain major hurricane status in the Gulf of Mexico.

Iota (2020): Less than two weeks after Eta became a Category 4 Atlantic hurricane, Iota was an even stronger storm. At peak strength in the Caribbean Sea, Iota nearly reached Category 5 intensity with sustained winds of 155 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 917 mb. Iota caused widespread damage in Central America, not far from where Eta made landfall. 

Paloma (2008): Hurricane Paloma formed in the Caribbean Sea and reached peak intensity on November 8 as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 145 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 944 mb. Paloma was also significant because it marked the first known instance when major hurricanes formed in the Atlantic Ocean Basin (that includes the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea) in five consecutive months (July through November).  

Kate (1985): Kate reached peak intensity as a Category 3 storm in the Gulf of Mexico on November 20 with sustained winds of 120 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 953 mb. Kate weakened slightly to Category 2 status before its November 21 landfall on the Florida panhandle. That made it the latest landfalling hurricane on record in the contiguous United States. Kate was also the fourth hurricane to impact the U.S. Gulf Coast during the 1985 season and did an estimated $300 million in damages (unadjusted for inflation), according to NOAA.

Cuba Hurricane of 1932: The strongest November hurricane occurred so long ago that it was before hurricanes were named. Consequently, it’s referred to as the “1932 Cuba hurricane” and remains the Atlantic’s only Category 5 November hurricane on record. It reached peak intensity on November 6, 1932, with maximum sustained winds of approximately 175 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 915 mb. The devastating storm made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Cuba on November 9. 

Since hurricane hunter flights didn’t begin until the early 1940s, the most accurate way to measure the intensity of an offshore tropical storm or hurricane was by ships at sea.  Since these measurements weren’t made at the center of the storm, the air pressure could have been even lower.