peak season

I was once told that on September 10 each year there would be a hurricane somewhere in the Atlantic or Caribbean, that day being the peak for the tropical storm season.  And now I see confirmation courtesy of this graphic from Jeff Masters' blog at weatherunderground.  He used the chart as he explained how unusually quiet the Atlantic is this week.  That's just this week, however, and we've got a ways to go before storm season is over.

Above is the old Sea Gull Motel in Hatteras Village on September 19, 2003 after Hurricane Isabel passed by. That hurricane reached peak strength on September 11, hitting Hatteras a week later.

At one time I had thought that the end of September was the end of hurricane season for our area on the mid-Atlantic.  By then the ocean water temperatures are dropping and fronts of cool dry air start rolling in from the northwest.  I thought that right up until I found myself catching a relief ferry back from Hatteras a day or two before Halloween last year.  Hurricane Sandy changed my opinion on when the season is over.

steve