LAFAYETTE, La., (KLFY) — The 2019 Atlantic Ocean Hurricane Season officially ended today, marking a total of six hurricanes for the year.
For Louisianans, the season will be memorable only for Hurricane Barry, which struck the Louisiana coast at Intracoastal City as a tropical storm on July 13. The first hurricane of the season, it topped out as a Category 1 storm and brought damages of around $600 million across Louisiana and Arkansas. At one point, over 300,000 customers were without power across the state, according to NOAA.
Nationwide, the season’s biggest hurricane was the Category 5 Dorian, which raked the East Coast starting from the Bahamas all the way up through Newfoundland in Canada. Dorian is tied with an unnamed Labor Day hurricane in 1935 as the strongest hurricane in recorded history in the Atlantic — 185 mph. Dorian weakened to a Category 3 storm before striking Florida and beginning its northward path along the coast. Losses fell between $500 million and $1.6 billion, according to the Insurance Information Institute.
Stats
- Tropical Depressions: 20
- Named storms: 18
- Hurricanes: 6
- Major hurricanes (Category 3 and above): 3
- Total damages: $11.98 billion
As far as the statistics go, the 2019 season ran pretty close to predictions, though there was a higher percentage of named storms than forecasted. Colorado State University’s tropical team predicted 13 names storms and five hurricanes, while NOAA predicted an average season in May before bumping up their predictions in August due to El Nino activity.