Member-only story
The Most Active Decade For US Hurricane Landfalls
And which decades were the quietest
There has been a lot of buzz about active hurricane seasons in recent years. It feels like every year, experts ramp up their claims for bigger and more destructive seasons. More storms. Bigger storms. More landfalls. Given all of the hype, it is safe to assume that the most active years for hurricane strikes in the United States are now. But that is not the case. In fact, some of the most active decades for hurricanes in North America were a long, long time ago.
The most active decade for hurricane landfalls in the United States was 1941–1950. During this ten year period, twenty four hurricanes hit the United States, with ten of them being major hurricanes. That is a major hurricane strike every single year for a decade. Yikes.
Even the previous decade was no slouch, with above average numbers. Between 1931 and 1940, twenty one more storms hit the United States, with five of them being major. By comparison, 2001–2010, the decade that saw storms like Charlie and Katrina strike major US…