U.S. escapes major hurricanes for 5th straight year
MIAMI (AP) – Dec. 1, 2010 – The Atlantic hurricane season ends Tuesday, going down as one of the busiest on record with extreme weather ravaging Haiti, Mexico and elsewhere, but sparing the U.S. coastline a major hurricane for a fifth straight year.
U.S. forecasters are wondering if America can make history and extend its luck into 2011. If so, it would be the first time ever that the U.S. escaped a major hurricane for six years.
“That would be a record I would like to break,” said Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
All told, 19 named storms formed in the Atlantic, tying with the 1887 and 1995 seasons for third highest on record. Twelve became hurricanes, tying with the 1969 season for the second highest on record.
In the U.S., Texas suffered the worst of the tropical weather.
