Hurricane Tantrums
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This year's Atlantic hurricanes acted like a group of party guests who show up late and then raise the roof.

Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton and this is The Weather Notebook.

The early signals pointed to a somewhat busier-than-average season. But by early September, experts were scratching their heads. There had been four named storms, but not a single one had made it to hurricane status (Winds must blow at least 74 miles per hour). Not since 1984 had the Atlantic gone so late in the year without a single hurricane. Then, the door opened and the guests barged in: Erin, Felix, Gabrielle, Humberto, Iris--all hurricanes.

The worst of the bunch was Iris, which became a small but intense category 4 storm that struck Belize. At least 31 people died, most of them on a boat that capsized in the wind and storm surge. More hurricanes made the scene in October and November.

Michelle became the strongest hurricane to hit Jamaica and Cuba in 57 years. The damage from Michelle totaled more than $4 billion but thanks to an effective warning network, only a handful of people died.

The hurricane season of 2001 did end up busier than average. However, not a single hurricane struck the US. The biggest US trouble by far came from a slow-moving tropical storm named Allison. Allison lingered across Texas at first and dumped over 25 inches of rain near Houston. Flooding paralyzed the city and caused more than $2 billion in damage just there, $5 billion across the US . At storm's end. Allison was responsible for 40 deaths on its path from Houston to Philadelphia.

For the year's roundup of hurricanes, we thank meteorologist Bob Henson of Boulder, Colorado. The Weather Notebook is a production of the Mt. Washington Observatory and is supported generously by Subaru.