HURRICANE BLOG: So How Unusual was Irene?

At a glance, you might think you know the answer to above question.  You might be thinking, "pretty darn unusual."

And while it is true we don't see a hurricane take dead aim at the central east coast, or Maryland, all that often, it sure isn't that much of a rarity either.

In fact, statistically, we were surprised that when we took a hard look at the last 130 years or so, Maryland (and the central east coast aka "Mid-Atlantic") is affected by at least the outer edge of a hurricane once every 2.84 years.  Yep, less than every 3 years on average.

Now, when it comes to direct strikes, where a hurricane actually makes landfall in the state, those are more rare.  They only happen a little less than every 20 years on average (19.86 to be exact statistically).

Irene ultimately was not a direct landfall, but with the eye just 15 miles or so off Ocean City, she might as well have been.  Either way, it does turn out, it was not all that highly unusual after all.

Please click the video clip attached to this blog to find out a bit more as we illustrate the paths of some of the biggest storms to every hit our state.

One footnote, is that Earl did threaten Maryland last summer, so we would have to say that to have two summers back to back with an approaching hurricane, is a bit out of the ordinary.