The most hurricanes made landfall during the decade starting 1916, with 14 reaching the Gulf coast. Overall, the first half of the century saw more hurricanes than the latter half. From 1896-1945, about 11.8 hurricanes made landfall each decade. However, only 9.4 hurricanes made landfall per decade from 1946-1995. In fact, the Gulf coast has seen fewer hurricanes each decade since 1966.
Intense hurricanes making Gulf landfalls also show the same trends over the past century.
The decade starting 1926 saw the most intense hurricanes making landfall, with 7. Once again, the first half of the century saw the most intense landfalls, averaging 4.8 per decade, than the later half, which only witnessed 3.6 intense hurricanes per decade. The number of intense hurricanes has also been trending downward since 1966, and the decade starting 1986 seeing the fewest intense hurricanes making landfall in 100 years. Conclusions With the explosive populaton growth the Gulf coast has seen over the past 20 years, the potential for hurricane damage in the region has increased dramatically. However, recent history shows a reduction in hurricane activity in the past 30 years, with no current indications of the trend stopping.