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Hurricanes Irma and Harvey Mark the First Time Two Atlantic Category 4 U.S. Landfalls Have Occurred in the Same Year

At a Glance

Harvey and Irma both made a U.S. landfall as Category 4 hurricanes.
Two Atlantic hurricanes of this intensity have never made landfall during the same year in the U.S.

For the first time in 166 years of weather records, two Atlantic Category 4 hurricanes have made landfall in the United States during the same year.

Hurricane Irma's landfall in the Florida Keys with 130 mph winds on Sunday morning clinched this historic event. It comes just 16 days after Hurricane Harvey roared into Rockport, Texas, with maximum sustained winds also at 130 mph.

(HURRICANE CENTRAL: Full Coverage on Irma)

Left: Hurricane Harvey makes landfall near Rockport, Texas, on Aug. 25, 2017 | Right: Hurricane Irma makes its first landfall at Cudjoe Key, Florida, on Sept. 10, 2017.

The winds for a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale range from 130 mph to 156 mph. Winds of that strength are capable of causing catastrophic damage.

Category 4 or stronger Atlantic hurricane landfalls in the U.S. are a rare occurrence with only 27 documented since 1851, including Harvey and Irma. Three of those 27 landfalls were Category 5 hurricanes.

Harvey's Category 4 strike on Texas was the first to occur in the U.S. since Charley hammered southwest Florida in 2004. Before that, no landfalls of that strength had happened since Andrew's destructive hit on South Florida as a Category 5 in 1992.

Florida has experienced the most Category 4 or stronger landfalls with 13, while Texas is second with 7 landfalls of that intensity.

While this is the first time two Atlantic hurricanes have made landfall at Category 4 or stronger intensity, it has happened before if you include the Pacific Ocean.

As previously mentioned, Andrew made landfall in South Florida as a Category 5 in 1992. That same year Hurricane Iniki made landfall as a Category 4 on Hawaii's Kauai Island.