The 1998 Atlantic hurricane season was a catastrophic and deadly Atlantic hurricane season, featuring the highest number of storm-related fatalities in over 218 years and some of the costliest ever at the time.[1] The season had above average activity, due to the dissipation of an El Niño event and transition to La Niña conditions. It officially began on June 1 and ended on November 30, dates which conventionally delimit the period during which most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic Ocean.[2]
The season had a rather slow start, with no tropical cyclones forming in June.
The first tropical cyclone, Tropical Storm Alex, developed on July 27, and the season's final storm, Hurricane Nicole, became extratropical on December 1.
Several storms made landfall or directly affected land. Hurricane Bonnie made landfall in southeastern North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane in late August, killing five people and causing about $1 billion in damage. Hurricane Earl caused $79 million in damage and three deaths after making landfall in Florida as a Category 1 hurricane.
The most notable storms were Hurricane Georges and Hurricane Mitch. Georges devastated Saint Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic as a major Category 3 storm but peaked as a high-end Category 4 hurricane just before moving through many of the Caribbean Islands before affecting the southern US mainland, making its landfall near Biloxi, Mississippi, causing significant damage and at least 600 confirmed deaths. Mitch was a destructive Category 5 hurricane that affected much of Central America before making landfall in Florida as a tropical storm. It caused significant damage and killed at least 11,000 people in Central America, and was the second deadliest Atlantic hurricane in recorded history, behind only the Great Hurricane of 1780. Georges and Mitch caused $9.37 billion in damage and $6.08 billion (1998 USD)[nb 1] in damage, respectively. As a whole, and the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season was, at the time, the second-costliest season on record, after the 1992 season.
^1998: A "Mean" Season For Atlantic Hurricanes (Report). Silver Springs, Maryland: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
^Cite error: The named reference seasondates was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).
and 28 Related for: 1998 Atlantic hurricane season information
Hurricane Mitch was the second-deadliest Atlantichurricane on record. Mitch caused 11,374 fatalities in Central America in 1998, including approximately...
The 2004 Atlantichurricaneseason was a very deadly, destructive, and active Atlantichurricaneseason, with over 3,200 deaths and more than $61 billion...
The 1997 Atlantichurricaneseason was a below-average hurricaneseason. It officially began on June 1, and lasted until November 30 of that year. These...
The 2017 Atlantichurricaneseason was a devastating and extremely active Atlantichurricaneseason, and the costliest on record, with a damage total of...
tropical cyclone (tropical storm and hurricane) names which have been permanently removed from reuse in the North Atlantic region. As of March 2023, 96 storm...
The 2020 Atlantichurricaneseason was the most active Atlantichurricaneseason on record, in terms of number of systems. It featured a total of 31 tropical...
The 1893 Atlantichurricaneseason ran through the summer and the first half of fall in 1893. The 1893 season was fairly active, with 12 tropical storms...
The 1999 Atlantichurricaneseason was a fairly active season, mostly due to a persistent La Niña that developed in the latter half of 1998. It had five...
2003 Atlantichurricaneseason was a very active season with tropical cyclogenesis occurring before and after the official bounds of the season—the first...
worldwide. The hurricaneseasons of those two hurricanes, the 2005 and 2017 Atlantichurricaneseasons, are also the two costliest hurricaneseasons recorded...
The decade of the 1830s featured the 1830s Atlantichurricaneseasons. While data is not available for every storm that occurred, some parts of the coastline...
The 1995 Atlantichurricaneseason was a very active Atlantichurricaneseason, and is considered to be the start of an ongoing era of high-activity tropical...
The 2019 Atlantichurricaneseason was the fourth consecutive above-average and damaging season dating back to 2016. The season featured eighteen named...
1998hurricaneseason may refer to: The 1998Atlantichurricaneseason The 1998 Pacific hurricaneseason This disambiguation page lists articles associated...
Category 5 Atlantichurricane is a tropical cyclone that reaches Category 5 intensity on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, within the Atlantic Ocean...
The 1969 Atlantichurricaneseason was the most active Atlantichurricaneseason since the 1933 season, and was the final year of the most recent positive...
The 1998 Pacific hurricaneseason was a fairly average Pacific hurricaneseason. Despite this, it had nine hurricanes and six major hurricanes, which was...
The 1961 Atlantichurricaneseason was a very active Atlantichurricaneseason, with an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) total of 189. The season, however...
1996 Atlantichurricaneseason had the most major hurricanes since 1950, which are Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The season was above-average...
The 1992 Atlantichurricaneseason was a significantly below average season for overall tropical or subtropical cyclones as only ten formed. Six of them...
960 at hurricane intensity, and 333 at major hurricane intensity within the Atlantic Ocean since 1851, the first Atlantichurricaneseason to be included...
An Atlantichurricane is a type of tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean primarily between June and November. The terms "hurricane", "typhoon"...
The decade of the 1810s featured the 1810s Atlantichurricaneseasons. While data is not available for every storm that occurred, some parts of the coastline...
of the 1998 Atlantichurricaneseason. It became the most destructive storm of the season, the costliest Atlantichurricane since Hurricane Andrew in 1992...
The 1950 Atlantichurricaneseason was the first year in the Atlantichurricane database (HURDAT) that storms were given names in the Atlantic basin. Names...
Global Information