Strongest worldwide tropical systems

Last week, I wrote about the different names of major tropical systems that included hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons. Ironically, a major storm, Tropical Cyclone Alfred, made landfall on Australia’s East Coast on Saturday. It was the strength of a Category 2 Atlantic hurricane before it weakened and came onshore near one of its major cities, Brisbane. High winds and very heavy rainfall have left hundreds of thousands without power.

About four cyclones hit Australia each year. However, most of them are much farther northward in the tropical regions in the Southern Hemisphere. Alfred is a very strong storm to be this far to the south. The last time a cyclone was near this latitude was back in 1974, so this has been classified as a rare event.

The deadliest and likely most intense cyclone to ever hit Australia was Cyclone Mahina, way back in early March 1899. Mahina does rank as one of the most intense cyclones ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. The storm was a Category 5 and hit Bathurst Bay, located in far northeastern Australia, on March 4 and 5 with winds over 160 miles per hour.

The largest tropical system in modern history was Typhoon Tip. This monster storm developed near Micronesia in the western Pacific on Oct. 4, 1979. Tip moved across the western Pacific for 20 days and made landfall in southern Japan on Oct. 19. Winds were briefly near 190 miles per hour when the storm was at its strongest and was exceptionally large when compared to other tropical cyclones, typhoons or hurricanes. In fact, that storm would have covered nearly half of the continental United States.

Since 1851, there have been an estimated 42 hurricanes that reached Category 5 status, the highest on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. The most Category 5 hurricanes to be observed in a single season happened in the very active year of 2005 when there were four huge storms, including Katrina. Amazingly enough, there are only four hurricanes that made landfall in the U.S. as a Category 5. Hurricane Katrina weakened to a Category 3 when it moved onshore.

The deadliest hurricane to ever strike the U.S. was the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. According to the National Hurricane Center, the storm likely killed between 6,000 and 12,000 people. The hurricane came ashore during the night of Sept. 8, 1900, across Galveston, Texas, with an estimated strength of a Category 4 storm. During that year, Galveston was slightly less than 9 feet above sea level. The massive hurricane generated a storm surge of over 15 feet that washed over the entire region.

The current record for the most time a storm maintained a Category 5 status during the era of satellite technology was Hurricane Irma back in late August and early September of 2017. It held that status for about 77 hours. However, it’s likely that the 1932 Cuba hurricane has the longest record, which was believed to be 78 hours. This massive storm is also the only Category 5 hurricane to have ever been recorded in November.

What is likely the deadliest tropical cyclone occurred in mid-to-late August in 1931, known as the Shanghai typhoon. On Aug. 25, Shanghai had winds near 100 miles per hour, and the heavy rainfall from that system led to some of the deadliest floods worldwide in the 20th century. It’s estimated that approximately 300,000 people were killed from the effects of that typhoon.

As I mentioned last week, early forecasts indicate that the Atlantic and Caribbean waters may see around 15 named storms, which would include seven hurricanes.

The 2024 tropical storm and hurricane season had 18 named storms and was considered to be a very active and destructive one. It was the third costliest season in history, with close to $130 billion in damage. Florida was hit by three different hurricanes, and there were five hurricanes that made landfall in the U.S. during the 2024 season.

With sea-surface temperatures warming up along the equatorial regions, let’s hope this season will not be as intense. More updates will be provided in the coming months.

In terms of our local weather, it looks like we’re going to have periods of rain or snow, with the best chance of snow in the lower elevations around the end of the week. Cliff and I are still forecasting for Coeur d’Alene to receive additional snowfall near the 7-inch mark between now and the end of April, which would put our 2024-25 snowfall total at around 40 inches. There’s a slight chance that our final snowfall total could be in the mid-40s.

Next week’s weather will also have the chance of more rain and snow across the lower elevations. We expect a brief break after next week with drier conditions, and then the late March and early April period may bring another chance of rain and snow to the lower elevations. By mid-April, the chances of any measurable snowfall in Coeur d’Alene are very small.

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Contact Randy Mann at randy@longrangeweather.com.