130-Year Hurricane Record: Over 1048 Days Since the Last Gulf of Mexico Hurricane
Last hurricane to hit area was Hurricane Ingrid and Hurricane Manuel; NOAA recommends to still be prepared.
The longest hurricane drought along the Gulf of Mexico has been recorded since the official record-keeping of this destructive phenomenon began in 1886. Strangely, it has been 1,048 days since a hurricane last formed in the Gulf.
Hurricane season up
Anyone who has lived in or near the Gulf of Mexico know that hurricane season starts around June and ends by November. But it was just a quiet day across the region and there was not a single warning in sight. The last hurricanes that ravaged the Gulf were Hurricane Ingrid, a category 1 hurricane that hit North-Eastern Mexico in September 2013, and Hurricane Manuel. The two struck Mexico within just 24 hours, which was the first time since 1958.
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Hurricane specialist Robbie Berg from the National Hurricane Center said that for a hurricane to form, certain conditions should be present. "The conditions haven't been ideal in the Gulf of Mexico in the last two years."
Just the right conditions for a hurricane
Hurricanes form when water from the ocean is warmed by the summer sun (typically at around 25 degrees Celsius or higher). When humid air and clouds increase in the area, light and sweeping winds originating from Africa can blow clouds across the mid-Atlantic to the Gulf.
It is not unusual for this mass of clouds to increase in size and rotate as it moves towards the Gulf. It starts as a mere tropical depression and then strengthens into a storm especially if wind, temperatures and humidity remain constant. Category 1 hurricanes have wind speed of 119 kilometers per hour inside its rotating storm.
Not enough to achieve hurricane status
There were several tropical depressions that developed in the Gulf of Mexico in the last two years but none has increased in size and strength to be called a hurricane. Berg says that this could be due to strong winds along the upper layers of the atmosphere which tear clouds apart.
Hurricanes are more likely to form in the Atlantic Ocean because it's more expansive and the wind conditions are more favorable. Nevertheless, residents along the Gulf are told not to be complacent.
Warnings still up
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that even in this drought season, there is no reason to be unprepared. NOAA still predicts a normal Atlantic season with around 70 percent chances of developing 10 to 16 storms. This drought could end anytime and the most hurricane-active months of the season, August to October, are still to come.
