FLORIDA, United States--The 2016 Atlantic hurricane season officially ended November 30 as the first above-normal season since 2012, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
There were 15 named storms during 2016, including seven hurricanes (Alex, Earl, Gaston, Hermine, Matthew, Nicole and Otto), three of which were major hurricanes (Gaston, Matthew and Nicole).
NOAA’s updated hurricane season outlook in August called for 12 to 17 named storms, including five to eight hurricanes, with two to four of those predicted to become major hurricanes.
Several Atlantic storms made landfall in the Caribbean this year, including Hurricane Earl in Belize and Hurricane Matthew in Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas.
The strongest and longest-lived storm of the season was Matthew, which reached maximum sustained surface winds of 160 miles per hour and lasted as a major hurricane for eight days from September 30 to October 7.
Matthew was the first Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin since Felix in 2007. It intensified into a major hurricane on September 30 over the Caribbean Sea, making it the first major hurricane in that region since Poloma in 2008. It made landfall as a Category 4 major hurricane in Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas, causing extensive damage and loss of life.
“The strength of Hurricane Matthew as well as the increased number of US land-falling storms this season were linked to large areas of exceptionally weak vertical wind shear that resulted from a persistent ridge of high pressure in the middle and upper atmosphere over the Caribbean Sea and the western Atlantic Ocean,” said Dr. Gerry Bell, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “These conditions, along with very warm Caribbean waters, helped fuel Matthew’s rapid strengthening.” ~ Caribbean360 ~
