Letters from the November 5, 2005, issue of Science News
By Science News
Wind or fury?
(“The Wind and the Fury” (SN: 9/17/05, p. 184) states, “In 2004, Florida suffered its worst hurricane season in 118 years, with nine hurricanes, five of which were classified as major.” While it’s true that 9 of the 15 named tropical or subtropical storms that formed in the North Atlantic basin last year strengthened into hurricanes, 6 of them actually became major hurricanes and only 4 of these hurricanes—Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne—directly affected Florida. According to the National Hurricane Center, only six hurricanes struck the United States at all last year.