Contact: Frank Lepore FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
National Hurricane Center 11/29/95
305-229-4404
Stephanie Kenitzer
National Weather Service
301-713-0622
The 1995 Atlantic hurricane season will hit the record books as the second most active season in 125 years. Eleven out of 19 tropical storms were hurricanes, five classified as category 3 hurricanes or above, with winds of 111 mph or higher, according to forecasters at the National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center, part of the Department of Commerce.
"The 1995 hurricane season had impressive dimensions, with its 19 tropical storms leaving it only behind 1933's trail of 21 storms," said Bob Burpee, NHC director.
The 183-day season, June 1st to November 30th, presented the fewest days on record with no storms: 75. Tropical storms were present 52 percent of the time. Twenty-seven percent, or 50 days, a new record, had an on-going hurricane. This figure ranks 1995 ahead of 1887, which had an all-time high of 48 active days.
Though it is small consolation to the devastated areas of the Caribbean and Florida, 1995 had only 10 "major hurricane days" (days with winds in excess of 130 mph), ranking it 13th.
This year's estimated total of $5.2 billion in damages for the United States puts the 1995 season near the average $5 billion in annual hurricane losses as estimated by Roger A. Pielke Jr., a researcher at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.
"This season jump-started to life with Hurricane Allison on June 4th, just three days after the official beginning of the Atlantic storm season. After the ominous opening, the National Hurricane Center enjoyed a one month hiatus until the appearance of tropical storm Barry on July 6th," said Burpee.
"From July to October, the season was off and running in a nearly unbroken, often overlapping, succession of storms," Burpee noted. He added that despite this heavy workload, new "tools," including new numerical computer models and forecast techniques and geostationary satellites, helped ease the burden. "Tentative numbers show the accuracy of track forecasting improved 10 percent, better than the most recent 10-year average," said Burpee.
Overview of the 1995 season:
Tying the all-time 1966 record for the number of storms during
the month of July, July 1995 produced four storms: Barry, Chantal,
Dean and Erin. Hurricane Erin (7/31-8/6) struck both Florida's
east coast and western panhandle, causing an estimated $700 million
in damage and six deaths.The seven named storms of August tied a record for the most storms in any month last achieved in September 1988. August's four hurricanes, Felix (8/8-8/22), Humberto (8/22-9/4), Iris (8/23-9/4) and Luis (8/28-9/11), fell one short of the September 1981 record of five for one month. Striking the Leeward Islands, Hurricane Luis caused $2.5 billion in damage and 16 deaths.
Four tropical storms made a September appearance. Two of them, Hurricane Marilyn (9/12-9/22) and Hurricane Opal (9/27-10/6), were devastating. Preliminary damage and death figures for Marilyn, striking the U.S. Virgin Islands, show losses of $1.5 billion and eight deaths. Striking Guatemala, Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and the Florida panhandle, Opal caused nearly $3 billion in damage and 59 deaths. Hurricane Opal, with winds of 115 mph, was the strongest U.S. land-falling hurricane of the season.
Four named storms dominated October, two of which were hurricanes. With 115 mph winds, Hurricane Roxanne (10/8-10/20) killed 14 in Mexico, while Hurricane Tanya (10/27-11/1) spent its life at sea, never making landfall.
The National Hurricane Center also forecasts hurricanes in the eastern Pacific. The 30-year average for the Pacific basin is 16 storms, with the possibility of nine developing into hurricanes. This season totaled 10 storms and seven hurricanes, well below the average.