Residents of the southern United States heaved a sigh of relief as a comparatively quiet Atlantic hurricane season neared conclusion Friday with none of the storms making US landfall.
"The 2006 Atlantic basin hurricane season was much less active than the 2004 and 2005 seasons, but 2006 was also atypical in that there were no landfalling hurricanes along the US coastline this year," leading hurricane expert William Gray said in a report released on Friday.
"This is the first year that there have been no landfalling hurricanes along the US coastline since 2001, and this is only the 11th year since 1945 that there have been no US landfalling hurricanes," said Gray, of Colorado State University.
So far in the six-month season that ends on November 30, there have been nine named storms, the lowest number since 1997. Five of those storms developped in hurricanes, two of which were considered major.
This contrasts with last year's record season of 27 named storms and 15 hurricanes, seven of them intense. Among the deadly storms to pummel the United States last year was Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged New Orleans and parts of the US Gulf coast.
Forecasters had initially expected 17 named storms, including nine hurricanes, to form in the Atlantic basin this year.
