Top 5 states hit by hurricanes most often: See how many they've had since 1851

Hurricane season came with an early and violent start this year, taking lives, flooding roads and leaving thousands without power across the U.S. ? and it's far from over.

In late May, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) outlook for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, predicted an 85% chance of an above-normal season which spans June 1- Nov. 30,.

So far this year, Hurricane Beryl struck Texas as a Category 1 hurricane and Hurricane Debby made landfall in Florida as a Category 1 hurricane.  It also made a subsequent landfall in South Carolina as a Tropical Storm.

This week, a disturbance churning through Atlantic waters developed into Tropical Storm Ernesto,the fifth named storm of the 2024 hurricane season.

The storm formed Monday at sea spinning toward the Caribbean, and intensified Wednesday morning into a Category 1 hurricane as it moved north of Puerto Rico, causing flooding and wide-spread power outages throughout the U.S. territory.

As hurricane season progresses, below are the top five U.S. states hit with the most hurricanes, based on data on landfalls through 2022 ? some of which may witness nature's fury once again over the coming months, which forecasters said often have the busiest activity.

A major hurricane is a Category 3 or higher based on the Saffir-Simpson Scale of Hurricane Intensity and, according to previous USA TODAY reporting, only four Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall since 1851.

Tropical Storm Ernesto: Forecasters say on path to become a hurricane by Wednesday

Top 5 states hit with the most hurricanes over the decades

Here are the top five states most often hit by hurricanes. The list does not include 2024's stats which will be tallied when the season ends.

It also does not included a complete list of 2023's numbers ?a year when only one Category 4 (Hurricane Idalia in Florida) struck in the top five states, Meteorologist Neal Dorst with NOAA, the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory and Hurricane Research Division told USA TODAY.

No. 5: South Carolina

In all, South Carolina tallied 32 hurricanes with five hurricanes with being a Category 3 or Category 4. The Palmetto State, data shows, has never been hit with a Category 5 hurricane.

No. 4: North Carolina

Just north in the Tar Heel State, North Carolina saw 58 hurricanes (seven being a Category 3 or Category 4). The state has also never been hit with a Category 5.

No. 3: Louisiana

Several thousand miles southwest in Louisiana, the state tallied 63 hurricanes (with 19 registering a Category 3 through Category 5). The state's lone Category 5 storm is one of the deadliest: Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 claimed nearly at least 1,400 people's lives and caused billions of dollars in damage. The storm reached sustained winds of 175 miles per hour.

No. 2: Texas

Next door in Texas, The Lone Star State tallied 64 hurricanes (19 being a Category 3 or Category 4). The state has also never experienced a Category 5 hurricane.

No. 1: Florida

The Sunshine State tops the list at No. 1, tallying 120 hurricanes (37 were Category 3 through Category 5). Two of them ? Hurricane Michael in October of 2018 and Hurricane Andrew in August of 1992 ? registered as a Category 5. Both hurricanes combined left nearly 140 people dead

Why are those states hit the most by hurricanes?

The reason those five states rank high is" a combination of long coastlines and the paths of Atlantic hurricanes," Dorst said.

Most storms in the Atlantic, he said, are pushed along by the circulation of the subtropical ridge which dominates the western Atlantic Ocean.

"This tends to drive storms into Florida, and once it has passed over the peninsula, into the Gulf of Mexico toward Texas or Louisiana," Dorst said. "Those that pass to the east of Florida will recurve to the north and east but might make landfall on the coast of the Carolinas as their coasts protrude eastward."

Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia coastlines, while vulnerable, he added, are also relatively short and so they have statistically fewer landfalls.

Contributing: Jorge L. Ortiz, Christopher Can and Doyle Rice

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Top 5 states hit most often by hurricanes