Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Oil Prices and Hurricanes II

SciGuy asks the question uppermost in the sick minds of oil speculators:
"Why aren't these hurricanes hitting Texas?"

...Now, a word about Texas and recent hurricane activity.

Yesterday Rick asked a good question: Why do these storms seem to miss Texas so frequently?

The answer might scare some Texans. Historically, Texas has gotten more than its fair share of hurricanes. That simply hasn't been the case for the last two decades, which is all the more surprising given the overall surge in Atlantic activity since 1995.

The fact is, based upon data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, Texas has been struck by 56 hurricanes since 1851. Yet as the following plot shows, just two of those strikes have come since 1990.

More from SciGuy at the Houston Chronicle