9/26/2017

Hurricanes, I can see you!

Hurricanes: a special year?


This is currently the hurricane season in the North Atlantic. As everyone knows, Harvey, Irma, Jose and Maria hit the Carribeans and the USA between July and September. When I saw a lot of reports about the damages in the news and in my Twitter timeline as well, I wondered if 2017 was a special year or not. I also wondered if this perception of 2017 being a “special” year was due to the media and the Internet, making us more aware of this kind of severe weather than before.

So I told myself: "Try to find some data about Hurricanes and go check it!!" First, I thought I would find all that I wanted on the NOOA website. Indeed! There is a lot of content on this website (especially very interesting shapefiles, and you know how I love geographical data...). But, I was actually looking for more detailed datasets. That is why I used the Unisys website and this one was a real mine of information! This website allowed me to download all the tracks of almost all the hurricane since 1851! And here is the beginning of my journey about hurricanes!