As of August 24th, it has been a record 118 months since the last major hurricane struck the continental United States, according to National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration records.
A major hurricane is a defined by the National Hurricane Center as a category 3 or higher storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
There have been major hurricanes that have formed — five major hurricanes formed in 2008 and 2010, while four formed in 2011. None of those have made landfall as major hurricanes, however.
CNSNews.com notes the fact that President Obama is the first president in 122 years, since Benjamin Harrison was in office, who has not seen a major hurricane strike the United States during his time in office.
The last major hurricane to make landfall in the continental United States was Hurricane Wilma, which made landfall as a category 3 in Cape Romano, Florida on October 24th, 2005. It was the second-most destructive hurricane of the 2005 season after Hurricane Katrina.
The 10 year stretch of time without a major hurricane could lead to what NOAA calls “hurricane amnesia.” They say this occurs when a large span of time passes in between storms, causing people to forget to potential severity, which puts them at risk for major damage.
According to NASA research, the current nine year drought is rare, only occurring on average every 177 years.
