MARIA, 2017 - SAN FILIPE II, 1928 - SAN CIRIACO, 1899
Had Maria curved to the north a few miles sooner it would have missed Puerto Rico and disippated in the Atlantic.
2017 Hurricane Maria was caused by natural variabilities in the climate. This map dramatically shows that hurricanes are something Puerto Ricans must live with. We must build the infrastructure to withstand the hurricanes we KNOW are going to happen!
(Credit: Sheila Murphy, USGS. Public domain.)
This map was drawn before 2017 so I drew in Hurricane Maria. The National Hurricane Center, (NHC), has an enormous amount of information, including hurricane tracks back to 1850. Here we focus on three, San Ciriaco, 1899, San Filipe II, 1928, and Maria, 2017. (The only Category 4 or 5 hurricanes to cross the island of Puerto Rico.)
San Ciriaco is he longest-lived Atlantic hurricane. (NHC) After Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, it hit the North Carolina outer banks, at Category 4 intensity. They remember it!
The NHC says San Filipe II is the only hurricane to hit Puerto Rico as a full Category 5 hurricane. It continued across the Caribbean at Category 4 strength then made landfall again near West Palm Beach, Florida. Then it made US history. It crossed over Lake Okeechobee and caused a deadly, massive storm surge. Read about the Okeechobee Hurricane! It is the same hurricane!
Maria was a full Category 5 as it approached Puerto Rico, but it underwent an eyewall replacement cycle which took it down to Category 4 at landfall. After moving off the island, Maria weakened and disapated to the north in the Atlantic.