National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Extreme Fire Weather Concerns for the Western U.S.; Severe Weather and Flooding Threats for the Central U.S.

Extremely critical fire weather conditions are expected to develop across the Great Basin and Southwest today, and exceptionally dry and windy conditions will promote rapid wildfire spread through the weekend. Scattered severe thunderstorms and heavy rain are possible across parts of the Ozark Plateau into lower Ohio Valley and parts of the northern Rockies into adjacent Great Plains. Read More >

NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS SR-206 (Updated Through 2002)

ATLANTIC TROPICAL STORMS AND HURRICANES AFFECTING
THE UNITED STATES: 1899-2002
(continued)

Table 3. Tropical storms affecting the individual states, 1899-2002.

Area

Total

Frequency
(Storms per year)

Return Period
(years)

Coastal States
Alabama (AL)

28

0.27

3.7

Connecticut (CT)

5

0.05

20.8

Delaware (DE)

7

0.07

14.9

Florida (FL)

79

0.76

1.3

Georgia (GA)

45

0.43

2.3

Louisiana (LA)

38

0.37

2.7

Massachusetts (MA)

8

0.08

13.0

Maryland (MD)

15

0.14

6.9

Maine (ME)

11

0.11

9.5

Mississippi (MS)

26

0.25

4.0

North Carolina (NC)

35

0.34

3.0

New Hampshire (NH)

4

0.04

26.0

New Jersey (NJ)

7

0.07

14.9

New York (NY)

11

0.11

9.5

Rhode Island (RI)

0

-

-

South Carolina (SC)

25

0.24

4.2

Texas (TX)

34

0.33

3.1

Virginia (VA)

17

0.16

6.1

Inland States      
Arkansas (AR)

8

0.08

13.0

Kansas (KS)

1

0.01

104.0

Kentucky (KY)

4

0.04

26.0

Missouri (MO)

2

0.02

52.0

Ohio (OH)

1

0.01

104.0

Oklahoma (OK)

2

0.02

52.0

Pennsylvania (PA)

10

0.10

10.4

Tennessee (TN)

5

0.05

20.8

Vermont (VT)

1

0.01

104.0

West Virginia (WV)

4

0.04

26.0

Note: In this table, a tropical storm is considered to have affected a state if the center of the storm intersected any portion of the state while the storm was at tropical storm intensity.
 

Table 4. Total tropical storms and hurricanes affecting the individual coastal states, 1899-2002.

 

Area

Total

Frequency
(storms per year)

Return Period
(years)

Alabama (AL)

39

0.38

2.7

Connecticut (CT)

13

0.13

8.0

Delaware (DE)

7

0.07

14.9

Florida (FL)

139

1.34

0.8

Georgia (GA)

50

0.48

2.1

Louisiana (LA)

65

0.63

1.6

Massachusetts (MA)

14

0.13

7.4

Maryland (MD)

16

0.15

6.5

Maine (ME)

16

0.15

6.5

Mississippi (MS)

35

0.34

3.0

North Carolina (NC)

64

0.62

1.6

New Hampshire (NH)

6

0.06

17.3

New Jersey (NJ)

8

0.08

13.0

New York (NY)

20

0.19

5.2

Rhode Island (RI)

5

0.05

20.8

South Carolina (SC)

40

0.38

2.6

Texas (TX)

71

0.68

1.5

Virginia (VA)

21

0.20

5.0


Note: The hurricane information used for this table came from the NOAA publication Tropical Cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean, 1871-1998 (Neumann, et al. 1999). Additional data for the years 1999-2002 were obtained from the National Hurricane Center's web site using the updated Atlantic track file (Jarvinen, et al. 1984) through 2002.