Earth ID: 11891

The Coming Storm

Story by Patrick Lynch | Visualizations by Greg Shirah Released on June 9, 2015

There is a newer version of this story located here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12251

In any given year there is a 39 percent chance of one or more major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher) making landfall in the continental United States. Although the threat is real, the odds lately have played out in our favor. From 2006 to 2014, no major hurricanes have made landfall. In fact, the current nine-year "drought" is the longest period of time that has passed without a major hurricane making landfall in the U.S. since reliable records began in 1850. According to a new NASA study, a string of nine years without a major hurricane landfall is likely to come along only once every 177 years. So what’s behind the recent break? Scientists say it may simply be a matter of luck. Watch the video to see the path of every Atlantic hurricane season storm from 1980 through 2014.

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NASA.gov

Story Credits

Lead Visualizer/Animator:
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC)

Producers:
Jefferson Beck (USRA)
Joy Ng (USRA)

Scientist:
Timothy Hall (NASA/GSFC GISS)

Lead Writer:
Patrick Lynch (Wyle Information Systems)

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

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Keywords:
SVS >> App
NASA Science >> Earth