Published: June 8,2015
Screenshot of Tropical Storm Arlene coverage on The Weather Channel in June 2005.Arlene was just a small blip on the radar compared to what was ahead in the deadly and destructive 2005 hurricane season. Let's take a look back at some of the most eye-popping statistics from the 2005 season.
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28
This is the number of storms that formed in the 2005 season. The storms covered virtually every corner of the Atlantic basin. An unnamed subtropical storm was later added in post-season analysis, so only 27 of the storm were actually named. The 28 storms stand as the record most for the Atlantic. The previous record for the most storms in an Atlantic season was 21 in 1933.
The tracks of the 28 storms in the 2005 hurricane season.15
A record 15 hurricanes formed in the 2005 season, and seven of those reached major hurricane status (Category 3 or stronger on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale). The previous record was 12 hurricanes in the 1969 season.213
The number of days the season lasted from the first advisory issued for Tropical Depression One on June 8, 2005, to the final advisory issued for Tropical Storm Zeta on Jan. 6, 2006. This is a span of nearly seven months.125.5
The combined number of days with a named storm in the Atlantic basin during the 2005 season was 125.5. This broke the previous record of 120.5 named storm days set in 1995.Six hurricanes made a direct strike on the U.S in 2005: Cindy, Dennis, Katrina, Ophelia, Rita, Wilma. All of those hurricanes made a U.S. landfall except Ophelia, which was classified as a direct strike since the center of circulation stayed just offshore of eastern North Carolina, but still brought sustained winds up to hurricane force.
Four of those six hurricanes made landfall in the U.S. as major hurricanes (Category 3 or stronger on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale). This includes Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
The six hurricanes that made a direct strike on the U.S. in 2005.882
Hurricane Wilma set a record for the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded in the Atlantic basin on the morning of Oct. 19, 2005. The pressure reading of 882 millibars was recorded while Wilma was a Category 5 in the western Caribbean.Barometric pressure is used to help measure the intesity of a hurricane. In general, the lower the pressure in a hurricane, the stronger its winds.
Another interesting fact about this historical moment was that the diameter of Wilma's eye had shrunk to just two nautical miles wide about the time the lowest pressure reading was measured.
Wilma and its pinhole eye on the morning of Oct. 19, 2005.1,200
Hurricane Katrina was responsible for about 1,200 deaths, according the National Hurricane Center's document of Atlantic hurricane extremes 1851-2010.Even though Katrina had weakened to a Category 3 before landfall along the northern Gulf Coast, its large size and previous extreme intensity sent a huge storm surge into the Mississippi, southeast Louisiana and Alabama coasts. The surge left behind catastrophic destruction along the coast of Mississippi and stressed the levees protecting New Orleans, causing them to fail. This resulted in an inundation of 80 percent of New Orleans with water depths up to 20 feet.
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Complete devastation from Hurricane Katrina's storm surge in Waveland, Mississippi. (Credit: NOAA)27.8
The maximum storm surge from Hurricane Katrina was measured at a record height of 27.8 feet in Pass Christian, Mississippi. According to the National Hurricane Center report on Katrina, the storm surge was able to move inland up to six miles and crossed Interstate 10 in many areas.143,589,000,000
The total damage cost for the four major hurricanes that made a U.S. landfall in 2005 was in excess of $143 billion. A large amount of this was caused by Hurricane Katrina, which cost an estimated $108 billion alone.The names of five hurricanes were retired after the 2005 hurricane season.
Four of those hurricanes – Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma – caused significant amounts of damage in the United States. The fifth hurricane name retired was Stan, which caused disastrous flooding in Mexico and Central America.
The lists of names for Atlantic storms are rotated every six years. Storms that cause a significant amount of property loss or deaths can be retired by the World Meteorological Organization.
4
A record four hurricanes reached Category 5 status in the 2005 season. This includes Hurricanes Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma.Emily was the record earliest-forming Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic. It strengthened into a Category 5 on July 16 while in the Caribbean Sea, just to the south of Jamaica.
The eye of Hurricane Emily in the Caribbean Sea as seen from the International Space Station on July 17, 2005.(NASA)
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