What was the latest hurricane to make landfall in the US?

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Here is why hurricane season runs from June to November

Hurricane season is long. Why?

Hurricane Kate of 1985 is the latest hurricane ever to make landfall in the U.S. and still holds several records in weather history.

The Category 2 storm on Nov. 21, 1985, is the strongest and latest to have impacted the lower 48 during any season. Forecasters considered the strike and strength of Kate to be rare, with just nine days left of the Atlantic basin hurricane season – a 183-day period that runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. 

November ranks fifth out of the six months for seeing the least amount of tropical cyclone development, only running slightly ahead of June’s pace.

WHEN IS THE TYPICAL LAST HURRICANE STRIKE ON THE US COAST?

How did Kate strengthen?

Hurricane Kate of 1985 had a complicated beginning. It formed because a stout ridge over the southwest Atlantic kept fall’s usual fronts further north.

The cyclone moved through the Bahamas and Cuba before entering the Gulf of Mexico. It was in the eastern Gulf, that the cyclone became a Category 3 hurricane with winds in excess of 115 mph.

A cold front was able to help turn and pull the storm northward, and it made landfall along the Florida Panhandle as a weakening Category 2 storm.

Its strength alone was a rare feat in November due to usually cooler water temperatures and hostile upper-level winds, which prevent cyclones from strengthening.

What was Kate’s scope of damage?

The hurricane caused damage that would be estimated to be around $1.9 billion in today’s dollar value.

Despite the tremendous devastation from the Caribbean to Florida, the storm’s name was not retired from a repeating list of identifications used by the World Meteorological Organization.

"Kate" was used to name cyclones in 2003, 2015, 2021 and will again be available to be used in 2027.