The southern United States have experienced an unusually strong wave of "monster hurricanes" this season. Now, Floridians and citizens of the Gulf Coast can add Charley, Frances and possibly Jeanne to their list of deadly hurricanes within the past two years.
While the barrage of hurricanes seems strange to some people, not everyone knows what is causing it.
"I heard that the currents are funny. ... Something weird is going on with the winds," said sophomore Kristina Medley.
The culprit for the recent string of hurricanes is a pattern of atmospheric and ocean flow known as the Atlantic thermohaline circulation, the same pattern that was mentioned in this summer's blockbuster "The Day After Tomorrow," according to an MSNBC.com article. A pattern shift in 1995 has resulted in warmer Atlantic seas, which in turn fuel stronger hurricanes.
"In the 40 years from 1926 to 1965 there were 14 major land-falling storms that hit [in Florida]," Colorado State University Climate Researcher William Gray told MSNBC. "In the 38 years since then, there was only one: Andrew."
Hurricanes form as clumps of thunderstorms off the west coast of Africa, the south Atlantic Caribbean or the Gulf Coast, according to Topper Shutt, meteorologist for WUSA-9 News. This season, a lot of hurricanes formed off the Cape Verde islands.
"I don't usually read the farmer's almanac or anything but seeing three major hurricanes in a row like this is pretty unusual," said AU junior Jeremy Taylor.
Shutt agrees that the number is unusual.
"Thirty-six percent of all hurricanes develop in September," Shutt said. "What is unusual is the number of hurricanes that have hit the U.S. mainland."
According to Shutt, the last major hurricane season was in 1964. "About every 30 years two to three major hurricanes hit Florida, and three to four hit the U.S. coast," he said.
AU students who have relatives in Florida and the Gulf Coast watched anxiously throughout September as hurricane after hurricane pounded the southern United States.
"My aunt received the damage from Hurricane Frances," said sophomore Andrew Dean. "In the past years I never remember hurricanes as incredible as Charley and Frances."
Freshman Alison Heineman's father, stepmother and sisters live right outside of Orlando, Fla. "They didn't receive a lot of damage, but there were plenty of bad winds and rain."
Freshman Stacia Young said she worried about her aunt, uncle and cousins who live in Lakeworth, Fla.
"They were hit with Charley and Frances, but they weren't evacuated," she said.
Right now, the forecast for Tropical Storm Jeanne is that it will make a hard left into Florida again, but it is still too early to tell, according to Shutt.
"Karl is right behind Jeanne, so I'll be watching him over the next week as well," he said.
Many Florida college students were younger than 8 years old when Hurricane Andrew hit, making the past three "monster" hurricanes a new experience for many.
"Frances kicked our butt," said Emily Seawell, managing editor for the University of Florida's newspaper, The Alligator. Seawell's house had no power for days, leaving her without air conditioning and with spoiled food in her refridgerator, she said.
Megha Garg, news editor for The Hurricane, the University of Miami's student newspaper, also said Frances was fierce.
"Hurricane Frances was the one where we had to take the most severe precautions," she said
Florida college students have been aiding in cleanup efforts from the storms, including collecting money for the Red Cross and holding blood drives.
As to whether this active hurricane season is a bad omen for winter, Shutt has not completed his long-range forecast but believes there should be average to above-average snowfall for the upcoming winter season.
Hurricanes are named from a list selected by the World Meteorological Organization, according to a NASA Web site. The Atlantic is assigned six lists of names, with one list used each year. Every sixth year, the first list begins again. The letters Q, U, X, Y and Z are not used.
