Chris Dolce
The U.S. had one fewer named storm landfall than previously thought in the hyperactive 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, according to a post-season reanalysis.
Meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) completed a review of data for Marco and found that it did not officially make landfall as a tropical storm at the mouth of the Mississippi River in extreme southeast Louisiana on Aug. 24, 2020.
In a report released Wednesday, the NHC said, "data from stations at the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River suggest that the actual wind and pressure center stayed just south of those stations and that landfall did not occur."
Marco was originally determined to have made landfall based on satellite imagery showing its low-level cloud swirl over land, the NHC said.
Landfall only happens if the center of a tropical depression, tropical storm or hurricane crosses the coastline. A storm can still bring impacts to the land even if landfall never occurs.
In the case of Marco, the impacts from rain, wind and storm surge were minor along the northern Gulf Coast. That's because the tropical storm was succumbing to hostile upper-level winds as it turned westward just south of the Lousiana coast.
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The NHC reanalyzes every named storm in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific each year. This sometimes results in changes to a storm's track and/or intensity based on a full review of all available data.
Another recent example of a significant post-season change is Hurricane Michael from 2018.
Michael was originally deemed a high-end Category 4 when it made landfall along the Florida Panhandle, on Oct. 10, 2018. A post-season review released the following spring increased its intensity to a Category 5 landfall.
U.S. Still Set a Landfall Record in 2020
The U.S. still had a record-breaking 11 named storm landfalls in 2020.
The previous record for most U.S. landfalls in a season was nine set in 1916, according to Dr. Phil Klotzbach, a tropical scientist at Colorado State University.
At least one named storm made a U.S. landfall each month from May through November, beginning with Bertha in South Carolina and ending with Eta in Florida.
Six of the U.S. landfalls were from hurricanes: Hanna, Isaias, Laura, Sally, Delta and Zeta. That's well above the average of one to two hurricane landfalls per year, according to NOAA's Hurricane Research Division.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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