Hurricanes Explained: How the 2005 Season Was the Perfect Storm

Tropical Storm Edouard's passage did little to disrupt Texas refineries, but provided the region's plant operators with what could be considered a fully interactive rehearsal for future storms that could be more severe. Edouard prompted the evacuation of 154 manned production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, about one-fifth of the 717 operating there.

The formation of powerful storms in the Gulf of Mexico brings back memories of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Many records were broken in 2005, including the most hurricanes ever, the most category 5 hurricanes and the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic as measured by atmospheric pressure.

Video: How the 2005 Season Was the Perfect Storm


Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

This NASA visualization shows all 27 named storms that formed in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and examines some of the conditions that made hurricane formation so favorable.

Scientists rely on information gathered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Air Force Reserve personnel who fly directly into storms in hurricane hunter aircraft. Hurricane hunters drop sensors into hurricanes that measure winds, temperature, and air pressure. In addition to satellites from NOAA, NASA, and the U.S. Department of Defense, scientists use data from NOAA data buoys and weather radars. All that data goes into NOAA’s computer forecast models to arrive at hurricane forecasts.

NOAA has since launched in 2007 an experimental Atlantic Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook model. While this is only intended to be a visual companion product to the text alerts, it provides a good look of the current trends.

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