Thursday, Sep. 2, 2021
Did five hurricanes—Katrina, Gustav, Issac, Harvey and Ida—make US landfall on the same day in different years?
Contrary to a social media post saying five major hurricanes all hit the U.S. on August 29, two of the five storms made landfall on other days.
The five were closely bunched together on the calendar, however. A scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University said this is because "highly impactful storms typically occur in late August and early September since that's when the Atlantic hurricane season tends to be at its busiest."
Of the five hurricanes listed in the post — Katrina, Gustav, Isaac, Harvey and Ida — Katrina, Isaac and Ida did in fact make landfall on the U.S. mainland on August 29, in different years.
According to the National Weather Service, Hurricane Gustav hit on September 1, 2008, and Hurricane Harvey made landfall on on August 26, 2017.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- National Weather Service Hurricane Gustav - September 1, 2008
- National Weather Service Major Hurricane Harvey
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