It was the busiest year in the tropics in recorded history in 2005. There were 28 storms in all...breaking the record of 21 storms set in 1933. As of the end of the year, the number of storms was 27. However, a review of data (in 2006) showed one additional short-lived storm in the eastern Atlantic near the Azores Islands in early October...pushing the number of storms to 28. For the first time ever, there were too many storms and not enough names to cover them. Wilma was the last storm given a designated name. After that, the Greek alphabet was used to name additional storms (6 of them).

In the picture: There were 28 storms during the 2005 hurricane season. Of these storms, 15 reached at least Category 1 (sustained wind of 74-95 mph) status...with 7 storms considered major hurricanes with at least a Category 3 status (sustained wind of 111-130 mph).

There were seven major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher), and a couple of these storms (Katrina and Rita) were well remembered. Katrina came ashore just southeast of New Orleans on August 29th, and devastated coastal areas from Louisiana eastward to Alabama. Rita made landfall near the Texas/Louisiana line on September 24th, and spawned numerous tornadoes...including 11 tornadoes in the Little Rock County Warning Area.

In the picture: Hurricane Katrina was just southeast of New Orleans, LA around 8 am CST on 08/29/2005. Click to enlarge.

Katrina and Rita were once Category 5 (sustained winds over 155 mph) storms, but weakened to Category 3 (111-130 mph winds) status before moving inland. In addition to these storms, Wilma also was colossal...and became the third Category 5 hurricane storm of the season (a record). Wilma had winds reach 175 mph at one point, and was the most intense hurricane (in the Atlantic basin) on record with a minimum central pressure of 882 mb. Wilma tracked across southern Florida on October 24th as a Category 3 storm.

Most Intense Atlantic Storms
Storm	Lowest Pressure (mb)	Lowest Pressure (in)
(1) 2005 Hurricane Wilma	882 mb	26.04 in
(2) 1988 Hurricane Gilbert	888 mb	26.22 in
(3) 1935 Florida Keys	892 mb	26.34 in
(4) 2005 Hurricane Rita	897 mb	26.48 in
(5) 1980 Hurricane Allen	899 mb	26.54 in
(6) 2005 Hurricane Katrina	902 mb	26.63 in
(7) 1998 Hurricane Mitch	905 mb	26.72 in
(8) 1969 Hurricane Camille	909 mb	26.84 in
(9) 2004 Hurricane Ivan	910 mb	26.87 in
(10) 2003 Hurricane Isabel	915 mb	27.01 in
(11) 1989 Hurricane Hugo	918 mb	27.10 in
(12) 1992 Hurricane Andrew	922 mb	27.22 in

So what does a typical hurricane season bring? In a normal year, there are 11 named storms...with 6 hurricanes and 2 major hurricanes.