8 – Hurricanes Exercise. Part C: Synthesis of Atlantic Activity
The bonus part of the hurricanes exercise examines a summary of the record of storm and hurricane activity in the Atlantic from 1967 to 2017 compiled by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (StormSummary (Links to an external site.)). Its focus is a histogram (reproduced below) displaying hurricane numbers and intensities for each year using color-coded letters (and numbers for some sub-tropical storms) to represent named storms according to their maximum strength (as defined in the key).
Question 1: Bonus Question (5 pt)
Examine the data presented in the histogram to answer the following questions
- In which years were there the lower and the higher number of hurricanes in the Atlantic, and how many hurricanes occurred in each of those years?
- Is there evidence from the histogram that either the frequency of hurricanes or the proportion of intense hurricanes (i.e., categories 3-5) has changed during the 51 years since 1967?
Strong answers will make reference to numerical data for specific years from the histogram, supporting answers with specific evidence of trends in the frequency and intensities of hurricanes (numbers of hurricanes, hurricane intensities, numbers of intense hurricanes) from the diagram.