Closure of the Hurricane Season

Post date: Oct 19, 2017 5:47:10 PM

2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season Coming To A Close

By David Zhang and Elvin Li

            As the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season comes to a close, people are wondering why there were so many hurricanes that impacted the United States of America. So far, there were 6 major hurricanes this year forming in the Atlantic, the most since 2005, the most active season ever recorded in the Atlantic. A major hurricane is defined as a hurricane over Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale (SSHWS), with maximum 1-minute sustained winds of over 111 mph. The strongest one was Maria, which made landfall around the morning hours of September 20th on Puerto Rico. Other highlights of this season included Harvey, Irma, and Nate which all directly struck the United States as hurricanes.

This obviously does not pose any significance to Marina Middle School. However, we’ve asked a student about how this affects them and what they know about the cyclones that devastated our country.

            “I feel horrible because the hurricane affected people and we are fortunate that we weren’t affected.” -Anonymous 8th Grader.

            The season was quiet before August arrived. Then Harvey stunned everyone when it hit Texas after traveling through the Caribbean Sea. And Irma hit Florida at winds of over 130 mph. Maria devastated Puerto Rico causing a humanitarian crisis. Finally, Nate quickly developed in the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall on the Gulf States of Louisiana and Mississippi. The hurricanes of this year have claimed at least 423 lives and caused over $188 billion in damages. All in all, it was an active year.

Hurricane Irma as it hits Cuba and is on its way to Florida.

Tropical Cyclone List (Strongest to Weakest):

• Hurricane Maria (Category 5)

• Hurricane Irma (Category 5)

• Hurricane Jose (Category 4)

• Hurricane Harvey (Category 4)

• Hurricane Ophelia (Category 3)

• Hurricane Lee (Category 3)

• Hurricane Gert (Category 2)

• Hurricane Katia (Category 2)

• Hurricane Nate (Category 1)

• Hurricane Franklin (Category 1)

• Tropical Storm Emily

• Tropical Storm Don

• Tropical Storm Bret

• Tropical Storm Arlene

• Tropical Storm Cindy