Another hurricane season in the books for the Carolinas. It was above normal — again
Saturday marks the end of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season, and it was another rough year for the Carolinas.
There were 18 named storms and six hurricanes — three of which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration considered “major” storms because they were a Category 3 or higher. Only three names went unused on the list of potential tropical cyclones for 2019.
“This year marks the fourth consecutive above-normal Atlantic hurricane season,” NOAA said in a news release. “The only other period on record that produced four consecutive above-normal seasons was 1998-2001.”
On average, forecasters say there are 12 named storms, six hurricanes and three major hurricanes in any given season.
“Conditions that favored more, stronger, and longer-lasting storms this year included a stronger West African monsoon, warmer Atlantic waters, and weak vertical wind shear across the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico,” Gerry Bell, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, said in the release.
Hurricane Dorian, the only major storm to strike the coastal Carolinas, tied with three other hurricanes as the second strongest in the Atlantic basin with wind speeds around 185 mph, according to NOAA.
Dorian devastated the Bahamas before veering off the coast of Florida and stalling in the Atlantic for almost 48 hours.
It only skirted the shores of South Carolina, but officials said earlier this month it cost the state $41 million in disaster-related spending, McClatchy news group reported. That cost could change as officials validate numbers.
Dorian struck the Outer Banks with a vengeance, spawning disastrous tornadoes before making landfall over Cape Hatteras on Sept. 6.
Officials are still assessing how much the storm cost the barrier islands, but Dare County — which encompasses the town of Duck down to the village of Hatteras — estimated nearly $15 million in damages in the days immediately after Dorian.
A week later, residents feared a second major storm would trace Dorian’s trajectory.
Initial predictions placed Hurricane Humberto on a path toward the Carolinas, but it veered east toward Bermuda on Sept. 15 as a category 3 storm, sending dangerous surf and rip currents to the coast instead.
The last of the major storms arrived at the beginning of October, according to NOAA.
Hurricane Lorenzo kept a wide girth, steering clear of the eastern seaboard but creating dangerous conditions for swimmers at the Outer Banks.
The National Park service warned of “extreme high tides” and dangerous flooding as Lorenzo churned hundreds of miles off the coast, the Observer reported. Four swimmers died over a three-day period that week, including a National Weather Service scientist.
