RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — November makes us think of fall, Thanksgiving and cooler temperatures, but tropical systems can and do still occur.
Since 1842 there have been more than 2,000 tropical storms or hurricanes reported in the Atlantic Basin, but roughly 150 of those have been in November.
RELATED: Click here for the latest on Tropical Storm Nicole
150 storms are still a lot, but if we do a little math, that means only five to seven percent of tropical storms or hurricanes have happened in November.
The earliest November storm that we have record of was a tropical storm in 1851, which was 171 years ago.
The most recent is of course Tropical Storm Nicole headed toward Florida right now.
Under half of these tropical systems became hurricanes. 36 managed to strengthen into category 1 hurricanes, 15 into category twos, four into category threes, five into category fours and we have record of one category five hurricane during the calendar month of November.
That hurricane occurred in 1932 and was at peak strength with winds more than 170 miles per hour the morning of November 6th, 1932. The hurricane would later made landfall in Cuba on November 9 of that year, as a Category four with sustained winds somewhere between 140 and 150 miles per hour.
So while tropical systems in November aren’t all that uncommon, they make up only a small part of total storms.
We say this all the time, but it doesn’t matter when a storm occurs, you should always be prepared.
