Hurricanes in the United States of America

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06.02.2023 © CIMSS University of Wisconsin-Madison

The U.S., like Mexico and other Central American nations, has a special role because the country is influenced by both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and hurricanes come from both directions. Warm air masses with high humidity reach the mainland from the west. These air masses develop into hurricanes due to the Earth's rotation, but they rarely cause severe damage on the Pacific coast. They usually turn south beforehand, where they have a more pronounced impact on the Mexican coast.

Far more threatening, however, are the hurricanes in the east of the U.S. on the Caribbean coast. The formation factors of warm air, high humidity and earth rotation are the same here. Small thunderstorms turn into full-blown low-pressure areas, some of which reach diameters of several 100 kilometers on their way west across the Atlantic. The higher the surface temperature of the Atlantic, the more intense rotations and rising air masses can develop. The south of the USA, with the states of Florida, Louisiana and Texas, is therefore most frequently affected. The more northerly states of South and North Carolina and Virginia are also frequently affected, but the hurricanes usually have less destructive power this far north.

Most violent hurricanes in the United States of America since 2018

These evaluations are based on data from the National Centers for Environmental Information of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Individual data have been summarized or translated.