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Florence and Michael powered deadly Atlantic hurricane season that ends Friday

After six long months and 15 storms, the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season officially comes to its merciful end on Friday.
Credit: Andrew West
Oct 11, 2018; Beacon Hill, FL, USA; Becky Daniel reacts to seeing her Beacon Hill home, behind her. It was destroyed during Hurricane Michael. (Andrew West/News-Press via USA TODAY NETWORK)

After six long months and 15 storms, the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season officially comes to its merciful end Friday.

The two most newsworthy and devastating hurricanes this year were Florence in September and Michael in October. Florence, which brought catastrophic flooding to the Carolinas, killed over 50 people, caused billions of dollars of property damage and shattered all-time rainfall and flood records in both states.

Though it hit only as a Category 1, the storm's calling card was rain, not wind: The remnants of the storm stalled over the eastern Carolinas, dumping 2 to 3 feet of soaking rain across the region.

When describing the flooding in late September, Keith Hendrick of Conway, South Carolina, told NBC News that "I just can't believe what we are all seeing happen." He said the historic flooding was "unbelievable; it really is."

In October, Michael brought death and destruction to the Florida Panhandle and other parts of the southeastern United States.

Hurricane Michael, which killed over 40 people, made landfall along the panhandle on Oct.10 as a Category 4 hurricane. At the time of the landfall, it was packing winds of 155 mph, just 2 mph shy of Category 5 status, AccuWeather said. That made it the strongest storm to ever hit the Florida Panhandle.

Michael's winds obliterated coastal areas of the Panhandle, including the town of Mexico Beach, and major damage was also reported in Panama City.

“It looks like a tornado came through," said Liberty County Judge Kenneth Hosford told the Tallahassee Democrat after the storm passed.

Michael was also the third-most-intense hurricane to ever make landfall in the United States, with a minimum central pressure of 27.13 inches of mercury. Only the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 and 1969's Hurricane Camille were more intense at landfall, according to Colorado State University meteorologist Phil Klotzbach.

When classified by wind speed, it was the fourth-most-powerful storm to hit the United States.

Although not as devastating as the 2017 season, when Harvey, Irma and Maria ravaged the nation, it was still another fairly potent season: “It’s very rare for there to be two years back-to-back where you’re impacted by two high-impact storms,” AccuWeather meteorologist Dan Kottlowski said. The six-month season this year began June 1.

In addition to Florence and Michael, two tropical storms, Alberto and Gordon, hit the Gulf Coast, AccuWeather said.

In total, 15 named storms formed this year, of which eight were hurricanes. Two of those eight were classified as “major” hurricanes, which mean they were storms of Category 3, 4 or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale of Hurricane Intensity.

That made it a slightly above-average season, as an average season has 12 named storms, six hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

The 2018 hurricane season was also the first since 2008 to have four named storms active at the same time (Florence, Helene, Isaac and Joyce), NOAA said.

The active season was due to “warmer Atlantic Ocean temperatures, a stronger west-African monsoon and the fact that El Niño did not form in time to suppress the season," said Gerry Bell, lead forecaster at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.

As for the hurricane season in the eastern Pacific Ocean, 2018 was the most active season ever recorded, when measured by the overall energy generated by the storms, Klotzbach said.

And in the central Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Lane brought record-setting rains to Hawaii in August. Over 52 inches of rain fell there, the most on record in Hawaii.

Though the official end of the season is Friday, December tropical storms and hurricanes do occasionally occur. Since records began in 1851, only six hurricanes have been recorded after Nov. 30, NOAA said.

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