Visualizing the Typical Atlantic Hurricane Season

On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida hurled into the state of Louisiana at rapid speed. With winds of 150 mph, preliminary reports believe it’s the fifth strongest hurricane to ever hit the U.S. mainland.

As research shows, Hurricane Ida’s impact hit right at the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season. Here’s a brief explainer on the basics of hurricanes, how storms are classified, and what a typical storm season looks like in the Atlantic Basin.

Classifying a Storm

Hurricanes are intense tropical storms that are classified by their wind speed. A storm needs to reach a certain wind speed before it gets classified as a hurricane. Storms with wind speeds of:

• <73 mph are considered Tropical Storms
• 74-110 mph winds are considered Hurricanes
• 111 mph+ winds are considered Major Hurricanes

See an expanded version of this article on visualcapitalist.com