Should Maine be Worried About Hurricane Season 2024?

You have probably seen all the headlines recently about the 2024 Hurricane season and how NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is predicting an unusual number of storms this year.

What is Being Predicted This Year for the Hurricane Season?

NOAA is predicting 17-25 named storms with 4-7 storms becoming major hurricanes. Anyone who has followed these predictions over the years knows that they are rarely, if ever accurate, and there really is nothing 'unusual' about this year's prediction. Pretty standard and pretty vague per usual.

I'm by no means discrediting NOAA or meteorologists. They are doing the best they can with the data that they have. I am saying, however, that predicting mother nature is basically impossible. She will do what she wants, regardless of what conjectures are achieved from any data read by humans.

When Was the Last Time Maine Was Affected by a Hurricane

Many of you probably remember Hurricane Lee from September of last year.  As a weakened Atlantic storm, Lee hit 50 miles southeast of Eastport, ME. But it did not hit Maine as a hurricane.

With hurricane force winds, Lee took the life of a 51-year-old in Searsport, ME, and knocked out power to 11% of the population in Maine.

How did NOAA do with their prediction in 2023? It was predicted that 2023 would be a normal season producing 12-17 named storms. There were actually 20, making 2023 the fourth most active season since 1950. Mother Nature does what she wants.

How Many Actual Hurricanes Have Hit Maine?

Hurricane Gerda is the last hurricane to directly strike Maine and from what I've found, the only one on record. Gerda struck Downeast, Maine as a category 1 hurricane in 1969. Fortunately, there was little damage.

Hurricane Bob was the last hurricane to directly hit New England and was one of the costliest storms for the area. Bob made landfall in August of 1991 in Rhode Island then moved into Rockland, Maine as an Atlantic storm.

There has been significant and costly damage from hurricanes that brought their last bit of life up to New England as weakened Atlantic storms, but thanks to the cool temps of the Gulf of Maine, Vacationland is pretty protected. Here's to hoping that NOAA's prediction of a record-breaking season is incorrect, not only for us, but also for our friends down I-95.