Hurricane season active but not here so far

The 2021 hurricane season has been a very active one for the gulf coast, but not in the mid-Atlantic. There have been 19 named storms so far this season but none of them have threatened eastern Virginia.

While the season is winding down, it’s not over yet. Hurricane Sam is moving up the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, but is only expected to threaten eastern Canada. Earlier this season a tropical storm made landfall on Long Island and moved northward through Connecticut, Rhode Island and into Western Massachusetts.

There are currently two named storms on the map and two off of the east coast of Africa. It is too early to tell if either of these will threaten the East Coast or like those before them, be deflected far enough off shore as to spare us from any major effects. But they bear watching.

Even though the threat of hurricanes diminishes in October, in 2012, one of the most destructive storms, Sandy, came at the end of the month and affected the Eastern Shore before slamming into northern New Jersey and New York City causing tens of millions dollars in damages and resulting in several deaths.