“Is global warming to blame for the last two horrific hurricane seasons?
Yes, says Judith A. Curry, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
As a result of global warming, hurricane seasons now are five days longer on average than they were 100 years ago, Curry said. In addition, the United States has suffered a “precipitous increase” in hurricane strikes in the last 10 years.”
April 15, 2006
Apr 15, 2006, page 61 – The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com
This was right at the beginning of the longest hurricane drought in US history.
“Hurricanes, large and small, have eluded U.S. shores for record lengths of time. As population and wealth along parts of the U.S. coast have exploded since the last stormy period, experts dread the potential damage and harm once the drought ends.
Three historically unprecedented droughts in landfalling U.S. hurricanes are presently active.
A major hurricane hasn’t hit the U.S. Gulf or East Coast in more than a decade. A major hurricane is one containing maximum sustained winds of at least 111 mph and classified as Category 3 or higher on the 1-5 Saffir-Simpson wind scale. (Hurricane Sandy had transitioned to a post tropical storm when it struck New Jersey in 2012, and was no longer classified as a hurricane at landfall, though it had winds equivalent to a Category 1 storm.) The streak has reached 3,937 days, longer than any previous drought by nearly two years.”
August 4, 2016
