Dear Tom,
Has there even been a year in which no hurricanes touched the U.S. mainland?
Julie and Rodney Newell
Dear Julie and Rodney,
With the increased hurricane activity in recent years, U.S. hurricane landfalls have become quite common. Last year’s lack-luster season marked the first time since the back-to-back 2000-2001 seasons that the U.S. escaped a hurri-cane hit.
According to Colorado State hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach, the 2006 season was only the 12th since 1945 that failed to produce a U.S. hurri-cane strike. Tropical Prediction Center statistics indicate that the U.S. mainland is the recipi-ent of at least one hurricane hit in more than 80% percent of all hurricane seasons. South Florida is the most likely area for a U.S. hurricane landfall, followed by coastal North Carolina and the Texas and Louisiana Gulf coasts.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
