While meteorologists were on target with their predictions of a below-normal Atlantic hurricane season, there was some activity to report, according to the Insurance Information Institute.
I.I.I. released a tally of this year’s events as the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season officially ended on Monday, Nov. 30.
According to I.I.I., there were:
- Eleven tropical storms
- Four hurricanes—Danny, Fred, Joaquin and Kate
- Two of the four hurricanes became major ones at their respective peaks: Danny (Category 3) and Joaquin (Category 4).
- No hurricanes that struck the United States at full force.
Citing information from the National Hurricane Center, I.I.I. said that between 1966 and 2009, the typical year featured 11 named storms and six hurricanes (winds of 74 miles per hour, or higher), with two of the six hurricanes becoming major ones (Category 3 or higher, with average winds of at least 111 miles per hour).
I.I.I. also noted that five of the 10 costliest hurricanes in U.S. history, as defined by insured losses, have occurred over the past decade. Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma caused extensive property damage to multiple Gulf Coast states in 2005; Ike touched down in Texas in 2008; and Sandy generated insured losses in more than a dozen states in 2012 after making landfall in New Jersey as a post-tropical cyclone.
Source: Insurance Information Institute