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Subject: E11) How many tropical cyclones have there been each year in
the Atlantic basin? What years were the greatest and fewest seen?
Contributed by Chris Landsea
The Atlantic hurricane database (or HURDAT) extends back to 1851.
However, because tropical storms and hurricane spend much of their
lifetime over the open ocean - some never hitting land - many systems
were "missed" during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries (Vecchi
and Knutson 2008). Starting in 1944, systematic aircraft reconnaissance
was commenced for monitoring both tropical cyclones and disturbances
that had the potential to develop into tropical storms and hurricanes.
This did provide much improved monitoring, but still about half of the
Atlantic basin was not covered (Sheets 1990). Beginning in 1966, daily
satellite imagery became available at the National Hurricane Center, and thus
statistics from this time forward are most complete (McAdie et al. 2009).
For hurricanes striking the USA Atlantic and Gulf coasts, one can go back
further in time with relatively reliable counts of systems because enough
people have lived along coastlines since 1900.
Thus, the following records for the period of reliable data hold for the
entire Atlantic basin (from 1966-2011) and for the USA coastline (1900-2011):
| Category
| Average
| Maximum
| Years
| Minimum
| Years
| Named storms
(including subtropical storms)
11.7&
| 28 | 2005
| 4 | 1983
| | Hurricanes
| 6.2
| 15 | 2005
| 2 | 1982
| | Major Hurricanes
| 2.4
| 7 | 2005*
| 0 | many times, last 1994
| | USA landfalling hurricanes
| 1.7
| 6 | 1916, 1985, 2004+
| 0 | many, last 2010
| | USA landfalling major hurricanes
| 0.6
| 4 | 2005
| 0 | many, last 2011
| |
& Landsea et al. (2010) documented a rather large increase in short-lived
tropical storms and hurricanes in the last decade, which is likely due to
improved monitoring capabilities, that may be influencing the climatological
average number of TCs in the Atlantic basin. With the artificial jump in the
2000s in the frequency of short-lived systems, a more realistic estimate of
the long-term climatology may be closer to 13 tropical storms and hurricanes
per year.
* 1950 is recorded as the busiest season in the whole database for number of
Major Hurricanes with 8.
+ 1886 is recorded as the most active hurricane season for the continental USA
with 7 landfalling hurricanes.
Atlantic basin
Individual years with the numbers in each category
| Year |
Named
Storms |
Hurricanes |
Major
Hurricanes |
ACE |
| ^ Click header for diagram ^ |
| 1851 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 36
| | 1852 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 73
| | 1853 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 76
| | 1854 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 31
| | 1855 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 18
| | 1856 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 49
| | 1857 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 43
| | 1858 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 45
| | 1859 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 61
| | 1860 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 62
| | 1861 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 50
| | 1862 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 46
| | 1863 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 50
| | 1864 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 27
| | 1865 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 49
| | 1866 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 88
| | 1867 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 60
| | 1868 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 35
| | 1869 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 51
| | 1870 | 11 | 10 | 2 | 88
| | 1871 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 88
| | 1872 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 65
| | 1873 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 69
| | 1874 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 47
| | 1875 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 72
| | 1876 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 57
| | 1877 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 73
| | 1878 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 181
| | 1879 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 64
| | 1880 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 131
| | 1881 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 59
| | 1882 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 63
| | 1883 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 67
| | 1884 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 72
| | 1885 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 58
| | 1886 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 166
| | 1887 | 19 | 11 | 2 | 182
| | 1888 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 85
| | 1889 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 104
| | 1890 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 33
| | 1891 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 116
| | 1892 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 116
| | 1893 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 231
| | 1894 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 135
| | 1895 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 69
| | 1896 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 136
| | 1897 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 55
| | 1898 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 113
| | 1899 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 150
| | 1900 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 84
| | 1901 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 93
| | 1902 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 33
| | 1903 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 102
| | 1904 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 25
| | 1905 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 28
| | 1906 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 163
| | 1907 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 13
| | 1908 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 95
| | 1909 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 92
| | 1910 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 64
| | 1911 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 35
| | 1912 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 56
| | 1913 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 36
| | 1914 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3
| | 1915 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 127
| | 1916 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 144
| | 1917 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 61
| | 1918 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 40
| | 1919 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 55
| | 1920 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 30
| | 1921 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 87
| | 1922 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 55
| | 1923 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 49
| | 1924 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 100
| | 1925 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8
| | 1926 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 230
| | 1927 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 56
| | 1928 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 83
| | 1929 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 48
| | 1930 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 50
| | 1931 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 39
| | 1932 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 136
| | 1933 | 21 | 10 | 5 | 213
| | 1934 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 60
| | 1935 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 95
| | 1936 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 108
| | 1937 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 61
| | 1938 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 73
| | 1939 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 34
| | 1940 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 52
| | 1941 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 61
| | 1942 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 66
| | 1943 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 94
| | 1944 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 96
| | 1945 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 67
| | 1946 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 22
| | 1947 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 112
| | 1948 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 106
| | 1949 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 98
| | 1950 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 243
| | 1951 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 137
| | 1952 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 87
| | 1953 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 104
| | 1954 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 113
| | 1955 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 199
| | 1956 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 54
| | 1957 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 84
| | 1958 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 121
| | 1959 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 77
| | 1960 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 88
| | 1961 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 205
| | 1962 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 36
| | 1963 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 118
| | 1964 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 170
| | 1965 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 84
| | 1966 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 145
| | 1967 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 122
| | 1968 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 35
| | 1969 | 18 | 12 | 5 | 158
| | 1970 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 34
| | 1971 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 97
| | 1972 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 28
| | 1973 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 43
| | 1974 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 61
| | 1975 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 73
| | 1976 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 81
| | 1977 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 25
| | 1978 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 62
| | 1979 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 91
| | 1980 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 147
| | 1981 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 93
| | 1982 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 29
| | 1983 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 17
| | 1984 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 71
| | 1985 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 88
| | 1986 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 36
| | 1987 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 34
| | 1988 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 103
| | 1989 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 135
| | 1990 | 14 | 8 | 1 | 91
| | 1991 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 34
| | 1992 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 75
| | 1993 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 39
| | 1994 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 32
| | 1995 | 19 | 11 | 5 | 227
| | 1996 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 166
| | 1997 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 40
| | 1998 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 182
| | 1999 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 177
| | 2000 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 116
| | 2001 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 106
| | 2002 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 66
| | 2003 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 175
| | 2004 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 224
| | 2005 | 28 | 15 | 7 | 248
| | 2006 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 78
| | 2007 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 72
| | 2008 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 144
| | 2009 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 51
| | 2010 | 19 | 12 | 5 | 165
| | 2011 | 19 | 7 | 3 | 121
| |
| Average
1968-2011
| 11.7 | 6.2 | 2.4 | 94.8
|
Named Storms = Tropical Storms, Hurricanes and
Subtropical Storms
Hurricanes = Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale 1 to 5
Major Hurricanes = Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale 3, 4,
or 5
"ACE" = Accumilated Cyclone Energy - An index that
combines the numbers of systems, how long they existed and how
intense they became. It is calculated by squaring the maximum
sustained surface wind in the system every six hours and summing
it up for the season. It is expressed in 104
kt2.
References:
Landsea,C.W., G.A. Vecchi, L. Bengtsson, and T. R. Knutson, 2010:
Impact of Duration Thresholds on Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Counts.
Journal of Climate, 23, 2508-2519.
(in press).
McAdie, C. J., C. W. Landsea, C. J. Neuman, J. E. David, E. Blake, and
G. R. Hamner, 2009: Tropical Cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean,
1851-2006. Historical Climatology Series 6-2,Prepared by the National
Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC in cooperation with the National
Hurricane Center, Miami, FL, 238 pp.
Sheets, R.C., 1990: "The National Hurricane Center - Past, present, and
future.", Wea. Forecasting,5, 185-232.
Vecchi, G.A. and T. R. Knutson, 2008. "On estimates of historical North
Atlantic tropical cyclone activity.", J. Climate, 21, 3580.
Last Revised : February 10, 2012
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