2020 Hurricane Season | Breaking Records That Are Decades Old
The 2020 hurricane season had record-breaking statistics with never-before occurrences. Learn more about it in this post…
The 2020 hurricane season was crazy, with a record number of Atlantic systems, a record number of Atlantic systems at once, and several more events and records. The season overall cost $51 billion in damages. The unprecedented amount of hurricanes makes the 2020 hurricane season a season to remember, especially with people struggling with the impacts of a hurricane and the COVID lockdown. In this post, you will get to know more about this season.
This post is all about the 2020 hurricane season.
Hyperactive 2020 Hurricane Season
How Many Named Storms in 2020
The first section of this post will be on the number of named systems and hurricanes from the season. The number of Atlantic named storms was 30, beating 2005 by two. The 2020 hurricane count did not set a record, though, having 14 compared to 2005’s 15. 2020 did tie with 2005 for major hurricanes, with both seasons having 7. There were so many hurricanes that they had to go to the Greek storm naming system to name storms that went beyond the normal one. 2020 is the second season to do so with, you guessed it, 2005 being first.
Most Tropical Systems at Once
Another record that the 2020 hurricane season changed is the most named tropical systems at once. It tied a record with the 1971 hurricane season with 5 tropical systems at once. In 2020, it was Hurricane Sally and Paulette, Tropical Storm Teddy and Vicky, and Tropical Depression Rene. In 1971 it was Edith, Fern, Ginger, Heidi, and Irene. The specific days in 1971 were September 11-12 and in 2020 it was September 14. The most notable hurricane out of the storms in the graphic was Hurricane Sally, the first Alabama hurricane landfall since Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
Earliest Storms on Record
This record type was broken 27 times in 2020, all from different systems. This record was the earliest on record for that number of a system. For example, Hurricane Laura was the 13th named storm of the season, and I was the earliest 12th storm of any recorded season. Only 3 named storms were not the earliest on record for their number. Those systems were Aurther, Bertha, and Dolly.
Hurricane Laura
Hurricane Laura was the strongest hurricane of the 2020 hurricane season. It is tied with Hurricane Ida and the 1856 Last Island Hurricane as the strongest hurricane to land in Louisiana with wind speeds of 150 mph. Hurricane Laura was one of the 27 hurricanes that season that is the earliest for its number, forming 8 days before the previous record holder for the 12th named storm. A tragically high death toll of 83 was associated with the storm. The hurricane hit a Doppler Radar Tower, destroying it. A storm surge of up to 10 feet was observed. The storm caused at least $23.3 billion in damages.
