2005 Atlantic hurricane season statistics

The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season broke numerous records for cyclonic formation and intensity. It saw a total of thirty-one tropical and subtropical cyclones form, many of which broke records as individual storm as well as contributing to a number of season records. This article is an in-depth look at the statistics of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.

Individual storms

Saffir-Simpson smallThe table below describes the characteristics of the individual storms. Included are data on the storms overall and on the landfalls of each. The colors are associated with the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensities, and are summarized in the table on the right side of this paragraph. (To see a brief description of how an intensity is defined, just place your cursor on the appropriate element of the right-hand table.)

It should be noted that even a non-landfalling storm can cause deaths and damage. Tropical cyclones are not point events. Storm related wind, rain and rough surf can be present hundreds of miles away from the center (although the greatest likelihood of storm-related damage and deaths occurs for landfalling storms and at landfall). Also land effects from storms after becoming extratropical or while a wave or low are not included in the landfall section, although they are included in the estimates for damage and deaths.

^{Death totals include direct and indirect deaths. The higher death toll in parenthesis from Hurricane Stan was as a result of non-tropical rains related to but not directly caused by Stan, and is listed separately.}

Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE)

The table to the right shows the tropical storms of the 2005 season ranked from highest to lowest Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE), given to three significant figures. The total for the season was 248 x 10⁴ kt² which is the highest seasonal ACE value recorded. It is slightly higher than that for 1950 season which had an ACE of 243 x 10⁴ kt². (It should be noted that the final storm of the season, Zeta, lasted into 2006. In calculating the seasonal ACE, the whole ACE of Zeta, including the contribution made in 2006, was used.)

ACE measures a combination of both the strength and duration of a tropical cyclone, so longer-lasting storms may accumulate more ACE than stronger storms with shorter durations. This discrepancy is most obvious in the comparatively high ACE value of Hurricane Emily to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Emily was not as strong as either storm, but formed out in the Atlantic and made a long track across the Caribbean Sea before making landfall. Katrina and Rita, however, both developed in the Bahamas, close to the U.S. mainland, and lasted for much shorter periods of time. In addition, Ophelia and Epsilon are high for their intensity because they maintained themselves for a long period of time and were slow to build and dissipate, as neither was ever more intense than a Category 1 storm.

The average ACE per storm in 2005 was actually close to the seasonal average. In comparison with previous seasons with high seasonal ACE values, relatively few strong, long-lasting storms, such as Cape Verde-type hurricanes, formed. Thus, although the number of named storms in 2005 was about 40% greater than that in any season since 1950, the seasonal ACE was only marginally greater than the previous record, set in 1950 itself, when the average ACE per storm was approximately double that of 2005.

Source: Best Track data from the Tropical Cyclone Reports. [ [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2005atlan.shtml? List of Tropical Cyclone Reports for the 2005 AHS] ]

Other records

Hurricane Vince developed in an unusual location in the northeastern Atlantic,cite web|author=Knabb|publisher=National Hurricane Center|date=2005-10-09|accessdate=2008-10-11|title=Tropical Storm Vince Advisory Number 1|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/pub/al232005.public.001.shtml?] well away from where tropical cyclones are usually found, though it is neither the most northerly-forming nor the most easterly-forming Atlantic tropical storm.cite web|author=NHC Hurricane Research Division|title=Atlantic hurricane best track ("HURDAT")|publisher=NOAA|date=2008-04-01|accessdate=2008-08-10|url=http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/tracks1851to2007-apr08.txt] It did, however, developed into a "hurricane" further east than any known storm, at 18.9° W. The National Hurricane Center declared that Vince was the first tropical cyclone on record to have made landfall on the Iberian Peninsula.cite web|author=James L. Franklin|title=Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Vince|publisher=NOAA|date=2006-02-22|accessdate=2006-05-04|format=PDF|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR-AL242005_Vince.pdf]

In the spring of 2006, the World Meteorological Organization retired five hurricane names: Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan, and Wilma. Their replacements in the 2011 season will be Don, Katia, Rina, Sean, and Whitney, respectively. [cite web
author = NOAA
year = 2006
url = http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/s2607.htm
title = Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan and Wilma "Retired" From List of Storm Names
accessdate = 2006-04-06] This surpassed the previous record for the number of hurricane names retired after a single season, four (held by the 1955, 1995, and 2004 seasons).cite web|author=|title=Faq : Hurricanes, Typhoons, And Tropical Cyclones|url=http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/B3.html Faq : Hurricanes, Typhoons, And Tropical Cyclones|year=|publisher=HURDAT|accessdate=2008-09-25] The name Emily was not retired at the end of the season, making Hurricane Emily only the fourth Category 5 hurricane since 1953 (Hurricane Dog of 1950 and Hurricane Easy of 1951 are omitted, as the phonetic alphabet was used from 1950–952). he others were Hurricane Edith (1971), Hurricane Ethel (1960), and Hurricane Cleo (1958), although the name Cleo was retired in 1964 due to another storm.

Tropical Storm Zeta was one of only two Atlantic systems to exist in two calendar years (the other was Hurricane Alice in 1954-55). It was also one of three to exist in the month of January (the other two being Alice and a subtropical storm in 1978).

Notes

References

* [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/tws/index.shtml NHC/TPC monthly Atlantic storm summaries for 2005]
* [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/index.shtml NHC/TPC storm advisory archives]
* [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2005atlan.shtml NHC/TPC Tropical Cyclone Reports for 2005]
* [http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/2005/index.html Unisys 2005 Atlantic hurricane season data]
* [http://hurricane.atmos.colostate.edu/forecasts/2005/nov2005/ Dr. Gray's forecast verification for 2005 (including storm descriptions through Beta)]
* [http://www.weathermatrix.net/tropical/2005records.htm Cory Pesaturo’s 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season Records]