Mildest Hurricane Season Since 1982

2009 Is Lucky So Far

Since June 1, the official start of the Atlantic storm season, only two hurricanes have formed, making this the mildest hurricane season since 1982, which also saw only two hurricanes. This year, eight tropical storms strengthened to be named storms, the lower number since 1997, but only one storm, Claudette, made landfall in the U.S. Claudette formed in the Gulf of Mexico and struck the Florida panhandle on August 16 and 17. No hurricanes made landfall in the U.S. this season to date. Still, the National Hurricane Center in Miami advises us not to become complacent as the hurricane season does not officially end until November 30. Nevertheless, the peak hurricane season occurs from late August until mid-October, so the worst may be behind us for 2009. The U.S. may have benefited from the “El Niño” climate phenomenon in which warmer waters in the Pacific Ocean produce weather patterns that create wind shear in the Atlantic Ocean. The wind shears, strong winds blowing from different directions at different altitudes, can tear apart tropical waves emerging from the African coast that can develop into hurricanes.

The respite is surely welcome in the Gulf Coast states, which are still recovering from a very active hurricane season in 2005, when the National Hurricane Center ran through the alphabet in naming 28 tropical storms. A spokeswoman for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America stated that insurers will use 2009 to rebuild their claims reserves after paying out more than $90 billion over the past decade in connection with hurricane losses. The break is particularly welcome for small businesses that would have difficulty budgeting for hurricane-related evacuations in this difficult economy. However, we should also remember that while hurricanes provide graphic imagery on television, it was a tornado that killed 21 people in Central Florida on February 2, 2007. As always, we must be ready for the everyday disaster to build resilience for the more serious ones.