The catastrophic Atlantic hurricane season officially ends Thursday.
Ten hurricanes ripped through the Atlantic this year, hurtling through parts of the US and the Caribbean and thrashing islands in their path, including Barbuda and Puerto Rico. One storm even veered as far east as Ireland — underscoring how bizarre this hurricane season was.
Here are six ways the 2017 hurricane season (from June 1 to November 30), left its mark.
1. Costliest hurricane season ever?
A trio of major hurricanes hit US soil this year, in what could be the most expensive hurricane season with damage estimates ranging up to $300-$475 billion. Harvey, Irma and Maria are major hurricanes, meaning they reached Category 3 or higher.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is expected to release a cost assessment later this year that includes total costs for these three hurricanes.
For comparison, the damage from Katrina in 2005, which has been the costliest hurricane in US history, was $108 billion.
A fourth storm, Hurricane Nate also made US landfall, but never reached major hurricane level. Nate caused an estimated $2.5 billion in damages.
2. Largest blackout in US history
Since Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in mid-September, the island has struggled to restore water and power. The official death toll there stands at 58, but a CNN investigation revealed 499 deaths recorded by funeral homes that could have been caused by the storm.
Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 hurricane, was the strongest storm to hit Puerto Rico in 85 years.
About 61% of the powerhas been restored in what has been considered the largest blackout in US history, according to economic research firm Rhodium Group.
3. Most number of consecutive hurricanes
The Atlantic saw a record 10 consecutive hurricanes this season — tying a record that was set in 1893.
The hurricanes are: Franklin (August 6-10), Gert (August 13-17), Harvey (August 17-31), Irma (August 30 – September 12), Jose (September 5-22), Katia (September 5-9), Lee (September 15-30), Maria (September 16-30), Nate (October 4-9) and Ophelia (October 9-15).
4. Furthest hurricane to travel east
Hurricane Ophelia’s path was very unusual. Fueled by warm ocean waters, Ophelia traveled farther east than any major hurricane to date in the Atlantic. The previous record was held by Hurricane Frances in 1980.
Ophelia, which at one point was a Category 3 hurricane, weakened as it moved northeast and reached Ireland as a post-tropical storm, where three deaths were attributed to the storm.
5. Record rainfall from Harvey
Hurricane Harvey dumped an estimated 27 trillion gallons of rain over Texas and Louisiana during a 6-day period, according to WeatherBell, a weather analytics company.
Some areas got over four feet of water, which was the most rainfall amount from a single storm in the continental US.The heavy rains inundated Houston and surrounding areas with unprecedented flooding.
6. A busy season… but not busiest
This season had more than the usual number of storms with 17 named storms, 10 hurricanes and six major hurricanes. In comparison, the average is 12 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
But it wasn’t a record year. The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season — the year of Katrina — blew away records with 28 named storms, of which 15 were hurricanes.
