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Hurricane Alley
The warm-water path of Atlantic hurricanes
Hurricane Alley is a loose term for the warm waters of the tropical Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico across which hurricanes travel toward the United States, and for the stretch of coast most often in their path. From June through November, storms born off West Africa or in the Caribbean track west and north over bath-warm seas, threatening the entire Gulf and Atlantic seaboard from Texas to New England.
Florida and the Gulf Coast are struck most often, sitting squarely in the path of storms curving up from the tropics. Warm ocean water is the fuel, and the region's low, flat coasts make it especially vulnerable to wind and, above all, to the storm surge that does much of a hurricane's deadliest damage. Names like Katrina, Andrew, and Harvey are reminders of how central these storms are to life along the southern coasts. The marker here floats over the warm waters where so many of them gather strength.