Today marks the last day of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. The season was more active than average, but not the worst by far. Here’s how this year’s season stacked up, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):
- The season produced 15 named storms.
- These included eight hurricanes, two of which were “major” (Category 3, 4, or 5).
- For comparison, an average season has 12 named storms, six hurricanes, and three major hurricanes.
- Florence and Michael (both Category 4s) were the worst hurricanes to affect the U.S. this year.
- This year saw a record seven named storms classified as “subtropical.”
- The previous record was five subtropical storms in 1969.
- This season was the first in 10 years to have four named storms active at the same time (Florence, Helene, Isaac, and Joyce).
- The named storms were called Alberto, Beryl, Chris, Debby, Ernesto, Florence, Gordon, Helene, Isaac, Joyce, Kirk, Leslie, Michael, Nadine, and Oscar.
- The next name on the list would have been Patty, but she got to sit this season out.
Today marks the end of an active 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. This season featured 15 named storms, 8 hurricanes (2 major) including 4 that made landfall on the US coastline (Alberto, Florence, Gordon, Michael). Florence and Michael directly impacted our area. #scwx #gawx pic.twitter.com/9IzT1xhIEh
— NWS Columbia (@NWSColumbia) November 30, 2018