The hurricane season draws to a close this week, as we approach December 1. So what happened?
A year after Katrina, Dennis, Rita and Wilma attacked from the the Atlantic, predictions were calling for “13 to 16 named storms, with eight to 10 becoming hurricanes, of which four to six could become ‘major’ hurricanes of Category 3 strength or higher”.
The actual tally was a much calmer 9 named storms, 5 becoming hurricanes, and only 2 (Gordon and Helene) hitting the Category 3 mark.
In fact, it was the calmest hurricane season in recent memory.
| Year | Named | Hurricanes | Major |
| 2006 | 9 | 5 | 2 |
| 2005 | 28 | 15 | 7 |
| 2004 | 15 | 9 | 6 |
| 2003 | 16 | 7 | 3 |
| 2002 | 12 | 4 | 2 |
| 2001 | 15 | 9 | 2 |
| 2000 | 14 | 8 | 3 |
| 1999 | 12 | 8 | 5 |
| 1998 | 14 | 10 | 3 |
| 1997 | 8 | 3 | 1 |
(Source: Wikipedia)
So what does this mean? I don’t know, but lets count ourselves lucky and move on. Chances are we won’t be so lucky next year…