Hurricane Season Ends Quietly for Palm Harbor

For the sixth straight year, Palm Harbor escaped being hit by a tropical storm system during the 2011 hurricane season. The season ends today.

The 2011 hurricane season produced 19 tropical storms, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Seven of those storms grew into hurricanes, and three of those became major hurricanes. NOAA had predicted 12 to 18 named storms, with up to 10 hurricanes. 

The Tampa Bay area briefly came under advisory in August as  and , and again in October as . Emily dissolved in the Atlantic, and Irene steered clear of the state, making landfall in the Carolinas and knocking out power on the East Coast as it slogged north over several days. Rina brought rain to Florida but was no longer an organized storm when it came ashore.

The last major storm systems to threaten the Bay area were part of the prolific 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. Tropical Storm Bonnie and hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne struck Florida in 2004. Tropical Storm Tammy and hurricanes Dennis, Katrina and Wilma hit the Sunshine State in 2005.

According to NOAA, more than 97 percent of named storms occur during hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 each year.

However, forecasters caution that dangerous storm systems can still form outside hurricane season, and they say residents shouldn't get comfortable even though the area has escaped tropical activity in recent years.

“Irene broke the ‘hurricane amnesia’ that can develop when so much time lapses between landfalling storms,” Jack Hayes, director of the National Weather Service, said in a news release. “This season is a reminder that storms can hit any part of our coast and that all regions need to be prepared each and every season.”

Pinellas County officials echo that message.

“People think we’re never going to get hit by another hurricane again," Tom Iovino of the Pinellas County Emergency Operations Center told Patch for . "So the concern we’ve got is that people aren’t going to take the warnings seriously. 

“Pinellas County isn’t moving from where it’s located. We need to be aware that … one time our luck is going to go bad. And when that happens, there’s going to be a lot of people that are going to be caught off guard."

NOAA will release its outlook for the 2012 hurricane season in May.