Why hasn't there been a major hurricane on the East Coast in decades? Should this be attributed to globalwarm

Question

Hurricanes used to hit the East Coast all the times. Often more than one in a year.

Answer 1

how can u tell dat to me dat i lived in Florida since 7 years and in 2004 and 2005 many major hurricanes hit the Floridian coast and gulf coast....... how can u not know bout hurricane Andrew in Florida 1992

Answer 2

well this year looks pretty bad.

bertha thretened the coast and now christobal is bringing some heavy rain to the coast.

although the gulf coast seems to be taking the fall the past few years their has been some storms. normally a hurricane hits the east coast about 3 times aseasom. huricane includes topical storm.

also it isnt very common for a major huricane to hit the east coast and one hurricane with a cat 3 or higher hasnt hit the storm in decades and doesnt hit the east coast for decades at a time

Answer 3

Say what?  Tell that to people who've been hit by hurricanes on the East coast of late.  I've weathered two.

Answer 4

There has been. A "major" hurricane is one that's at least a category 3, based on traditional classification. There have been 2 major hurricanes (from what I could find) to hit the east coast since 1998: Wilma (in 2005) and Bonnie (in 1998).

Hurricane formation's relation to global warming is still highly debated.

Answer 5

Are we forgetting Hurricane Ivan a category 5 storm in 2004? It hit Florida twice! Not to mention they were also hit by Charley, Francis, Jeanne all in the same year (2004). They may not have been classified as "major storms," but for the same area to be hit that many times in one year is pretty bad.

Answer 6

It can't be attributed to global warming, because nothing good can come from GW, right?

No, it is just the natural variability in the tracks of tropical systems.  We are currently in a bit of a lull as far as potent hurricanes striking the east coast (north of Florida), but eventually that will change and there will be an increase again, followed by another lull.

Answer 7

where have you bin in the last decade , many major hurricanes have hit the east coast