Here's Where Every Hurricane That Made Landfall in the U.S. Since 1966 Began Its Journey

Plotted on the graphic below is the origin of every hurricane that has made landfall along the mainland U.S. coastline since the use of satellites began in 1966.

As you can see, the tropical depressions or storms that would eventually strengthen into hurricanes prior to making landfall in the U.S. had their starts everywhere from near Africa's coast westward to the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

The dot farthest away from the U.S. on the lower right of the map is where Hurricane Hugo was born as a tropical depression on Sept. 10, 1989. It made a long journey west-northwest and struck South Carolina as a Category 4 nearly two weeks later on Sept. 22, 1989.

Digging even deeper, we can examine all the origin points by the month landfall occurred in the U.S. In total, 73 hurricanes have made landfall in the U.S. since 1966, and about 82 percent (60 total) of those hurricane landfalls occurred in August, September or October.

August and September U.S. hurricane landfalls hog the largest swath of the Atlantic Basin with regards to where they first originated as a tropical depression or storm. They've started everywhere from the Gulf of Mexico to near Africa's western coast.

September has had many of the U.S. hurricane landfalls from depressions and storms that originated in the tropical Atlantic between Africa and the eastern Caribbean. A handful of hurricanes that made a U.S. landfall in August can also trace their roots to that swath of the Atlantic. Those two months are historically active in this part of the Atlantic Basin, which is sometimes called the main development region.

Hurricanes that made landfall in the U.S. in June, July and October have mostly originated in the Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico, based on climatological history.