The last year since 1993 marked one of the most active Atlantic hurricane seasons ever. To say it was close to the beach — well, there was so much going on.
Though nature won’t bow to the statistics — especially in an era of flat or declining numbers — it’s impossible to deny the stats for 2018.
The number of storms tracked in the Atlantic and the pace of those storms are two main categories to track.
Many tropical systems — there were a total of 17 — were not well-defined at landfall or proved to be weak and slow moving.
The weaker nature is also evident in the overall strength of the storms.
Last year’s Atlantic hurricane season is currently the 29th most active — yet the eighth-least active since 1948, when the date for the beginning of hurricane season was adjusted to June 1.
COPY: 608 Degree Flow Screen Capture Text
The Caribbean and northern Gulf of Mexico were hit the hardest in 2018, highlighted by Andrew in the Caribbean and Florence across portions of the North Carolina coast.
The offshore Gulf Coast was more modest but impacted by tropical storm Helene and Maria in November.
The impacts of the 2016 season (15 named storms, seven hurricanes and two major hurricanes) will be discussed in the 2017 edition of this season of hurricane season.