Are more hurricanes hitting Florida? The data unequivocally shows the Answer is No

While some scientists warn future warming could put Florida at greater risk of major hurricane strikes, the data does not show an increase in Category 3 or higher storms striking the Sunshine State over the last century.

University of Alabama-Huntsville meteorologist Roy Spencer crunched the numbers and found “there is still no trend in either intensity or frequency of strikes over the last 118 years,” according to a recent blog post.

“The trend line in intensity is flat, and the trend line in number of storms is insignificantly downward,” Spencer wrote Thursday. “Nevertheless, the usual fearmongers are claiming Hurricane Michael is somehow tied to climate change.”

University of Colorado professor Roger Pielke, Jr. tweeted ahead of Michael’s landfall that “since 1900 hurricanes (overall & intense) are not more common.”

Michael is neither the first nor will it be the last major storm to strike Florida. Nearly half of all U.S. hurricane strikes hit Florida, which experts say is because of the state’s 1,300 miles of coastline in warm, tropical waters.

Pielke’s data showed the days between major hurricane landfalls in Florida has increased since 1900. A major factor in that is the roughly 12 years the U.S. went without a major hurricane landfall, known as the hurricane “drought.” (RELATED: Here’s What The Media Won’t Tell You About The UN’s New Climate Report)

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