State with highest hurricane frequency?

[Complacency]

Well, do any of you know which state in the United States is most vulnerable to hurricanes?

[JonathanBelles]

I would guess florida.

[DESTRUCTION5]

FL for sure..

[Ed Mahmoud]

Well, do any of you know which state in the United States is most vulnerable to hurricanes?

IIRC, long term, its Florida, but there was a spell, that except for Andrew all the big ones were hitting North Carolina.


Since California has had a single tropical storm in the last 75 years, I'll assume they are the safest of any state that has had a TC.

Now, in my unprofessional but reasonably confident assertion, while Alaska catches the extra-tropical remnants of West Pac storms, they are about as safe as a coastal state can be, although from watching that crab fishing show they get some nasty winter storms.

[Ptarmigan]

Florida. Some parts of Alaska coast are some of the stormiest in the world.

[southerngale]

U.S. Mainland Direct hits between 1851 - 2004 (Caterory 1 - 5 hurricanes)
Tropical Storms not included

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Louisiana
4. North Carolina
5. South Carolina
6. Alabama
7. Georgia
8. Mississippi
9. Virginia / New York
10. Connecticut / Massachusetts

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/paststate.shtml

[punkyg]

Yay! florida. oh did i just say that i mean aw poor florida and i live there.

[Ed Mahmoud]

I lived in Orlando, FL 32813 for about a year in 1983-1984.


Spent way too much time and money on the OBT, but I was young and stupid.



Now, I'm middle-aged and stupid.

[Aric Dunn]

1 in three hurricane hit the state of florida.. on average..

[Ptarmigan]

U.S. Mainland Direct hits between 1851 - 2004 (Caterory 1 - 5 hurricanes)
Tropical Storms not included

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Louisiana
4. North Carolina
5. South Carolina
6. Alabama
7. Georgia
8. Mississippi
9. Virginia / New York
10. Connecticut / Massachusetts

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/paststate.shtml

That scares me that Texas is number 2. Texas has been hit by multiple hurricanes like Florida had in 2004, which was in 1886. 1989 had two non-major hurricanes hit us, Chantal and Jerry. Chantal was a big rain event and very windy. Nothing happend with Jerry, just some high clouds. Jerry was much smaller.

[Alacane2]

It is true that Florida has had more hits than other state. However, Florida's coastline is larger than most other states as well, so you would expect it to have more hits.

If we look at hurricanes per mile of coastline, the results change a little.

Hurricanes per mile of coastline, 1851 - 2006 (North Carolina to Texas):
Alabama: 0.490
Mississippi: 0.363
North Carolina: 0.166
Texas: 0.163
South Carolina: 0.160
Louisiana: 0.130
Florida: 0.083
Georgia: 0.022

Major hurricanes per mile of coastline, 1851 - 2006 (North Carolina to Texas):
Mississippi: 0.204
Alabama: 0.113
Texas: 0.051
Louisiana: 0.050
North Carolina: 0.039
South Carolina: 0.032
Florida: 0.027
Georgia: 0.002

I realize that the question asked was which "state" was most vulnerable. Just wanted to give a little different perspective since not all states have as big an area that is vulnerable to being hit.

Information for hurricanes per state came from the NHC website at this link: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-TPC-5.pdf

Information for miles of coastline came from infoplease.com at this link: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001801.html

[Jack8631]

I was surprised to see Alabama above both Georgia and Mississippi. Guess the contour of the coastlines is a major factor, but still..

[TheShrimper]

"Hits" may not be an accurate portrayal to Florida's vunerability. It takes the cake any which way you look at it. Realize a storm could hit Mobile or even Biloxi, and Fla. would have major weather implications. On the same line of thought, a storm may traverse the Fl. Straights either easterly or westerly without making landfall and the Key's will be impacted greatly (on the likes of Georges, Ivan and Michelle). That said, Florida is likely to be impacted by hurricanes more than any other state.

[caneman]

It is true that Florida has had more hits than other state. However, Florida's coastline is larger than most other states as well, so you would expect it to have more hits.

If we look at hurricanes per mile of coastline, the results change a little.

Hurricanes per mile of coastline, 1851 - 2006 (North Carolina to Texas):
Alabama: 0.490
Mississippi: 0.363
North Carolina: 0.166
Texas: 0.163
South Carolina: 0.160
Louisiana: 0.130
Florida: 0.083
Georgia: 0.022

Major hurricanes per mile of coastline, 1851 - 2006 (North Carolina to Texas):
Mississippi: 0.204
Alabama: 0.113
Texas: 0.051
Louisiana: 0.050
North Carolina: 0.039
South Carolina: 0.032
Florida: 0.027
Georgia: 0.002

I realize that the question asked was which "state" was most vulnerable. Just wanted to give a little different perspective since not all states have as big an area that is vulnerable to being hit.

Information for hurricanes per state came from the NHC website at this link: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-TPC-5.pdf

Information for miles of coastline came from infoplease.com at this link: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001801.html

Miles of coastline is too hard to quantify. Remember, when Florida gets hit East or West it needs to exit on the other coast so unless the other exiting coast is included in this, it should be disocunted.