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Subject: E19) How many direct hits by hurricanes of various categories
have affected each state?
Contributed by Chris Landsea
This table, updated from Jarrell et al. (2001), shows the number
of hurricanes affecting the United States and individual states,
i.e., direct hits. The table shows that, on the average, close to
seven hurricanes every four years (~1.75 per year) strike the United
States, while about three major hurricanes cross the U.S. coast every
five years (0.60 per year). Other noteworthy facts, updated from Jarrell
et al. (2001), are:
- Forty percent of all U.S. hurricanes hit Florida
- Eighty-three percent of category 4 or higher hurricanes strikes
have hit either Florida or Texas
- Pennsylvania's only hurricane strike between
1851-2004 was in 1898 (from Blake et al. 2005).
Hurricane direct hits on the mainland U.S. coastline and for individual states
by Saffir/Simpson category 1851-2006
AREA | CATEGORY |
Major Hurricanes |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ALL |
|
U.S. Coastline (Texas to Maine) | 113 | 74 | 76 | 18 | 3 | 284 | 97 |
|
Texas | 23 | 18 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 60 | 19 |
| (North) | 12 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 26 | 7 |
| (Central) | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 4 |
| (South) | 9 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 8 |
Louisiana | 18 | 14 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 52 | 20 |
Mississippi | 2 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 9 |
Alabama | 12 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 6 |
Florida | 44 | 33 | 29 | 6 | 2 | 114 | 37 |
| (Northwest) | 27 | 16 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 12 |
| (Northeast) | 13 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 1 |
| (Southwest) | 16 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 36 | 12 |
| (Southeast) | 13 | 13 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 41 | 15 |
Georgia | 12 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 3 |
South Carolina | 19 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 6 |
North Carolina | 22 | 13 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 13 |
Virginia | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
Maryland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Delaware | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
New Jersey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Pennsylvania | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
New York | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 5 |
Connecticut | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 |
Rhode Island | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 |
Massachusetts | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 |
New Hampshire | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Maine | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
Notes:
Updated from Jarrell et al. (2001).
State totals will not equal U.S. totals and Texas and Florida totals
will not necessarily equal sum of sectional totals.
Regional definitions are found in Appenix A of Jarrell et al. (2001).
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