38 That the first named storm of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season appeared as early as May 16 About 100 tropical waves reach the Atlantic Ocean from the African coast each year but on average only four become major hurricanes In the 2005 season there were 28 named storms and hurricanes In 2020 there were 30 named storms and hurricanes – the most in any single season Storms and hurricanes are the only weather hazards that are given individual, human names In the Atlantic Basin, storms are not given names starting with Q,U,X,Y and Z. The Atlantic Basin includes the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico Men’s names were not given to hurricanes until 1979. A major hurricane - Frederic appeared in 1979, it caused damage extending from the Eastern Caribbean to Quebec in Canada The National Hurricane Centre in the USA regards hurricanes that are in categories 3, 4 and 5 as major hurricanes. Their wind speeds exceed 100 mph The names of four hurricanes that occurred in 2004 have all been retired. They are Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. The names were retired because of the loss of life and the level of damage they created The Bahamas is the CARICAD member state that has the greatest occurrence of hurricanes in recorded history The strongest hurricanes tend to appear in September but in October there might still be major storms or hurricanes Slow-moving hurricanes can be very destructive. They may cause extensive flooding Continues on next page
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