From the National Hurricane Center Facebook page this morning:
“Here’s the preliminary track map of the tropical cyclones that occurred over the Atlantic basin in 2015. There were 11 named storms formed, four became hurricanes, and two of those reached major hurricane status. There was also one unnamed tropical depression.
While the number of named storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes was only a little below the long-term average activity levels of 12, 6, and 3, respectively, many of the named storms were relatively weak and short-lived. As a result, in terms of Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE), which measures the combined strength and duration of tropical storms and hurricanes, activity in the Atlantic basin for the season was only about 63 percent of the 1981-2010 median. This makes 2015 a below-average season in terms of ACE. www.hurricanes.gov”
In the Southeast, the lack of tropical storms contributed to the development of scattered drought across the region. The worst drought was in North and South Carolina, although other areas also suffered. But heavy rains also occurred in the region, with and without the influence of tropical storms like Joaquin, which contributed to the floods in South Carolina in October.
