Hurricane Darrell (2021, scratch)

NOTE: This is a storm I got while playing around in a hurricane simulator on Scratch. Enjoy!

Image of Darrell: Track of Darrell: Stats: Formed on February 9 Dissipated on February 19 Peak winds: 145 mph Minimum pressure: 931 mb Deaths: 49 Damage: Unknown

Hurricane Darrell was the strongest storm off-season and in February ever recorded, and the 3rd strongest storm in the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. A very rare February tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa. On February 9, the wave was upgraded to Tropical Storm Darrell, making it the 4th preseason-storm of the 2021 season. Darrell then intensified, eventually reaching a initial peak of 110 mph on February 11th before striking the Dominican Republic. Weakening slightly, it emerged as a 100 mph C2 hurricane, and weakened to 90 mph, before record-breakingly favorable conditions led rapid intensification to ensue. Darrell eventually reached its final and strongest peak with winds of 145 mph and a pressure of 931 mb, becoming the strongest off-season and February storm on record in the Atlantic. Darrell started to weaken as it moved north. It lost major hurricane status on February 17th as it made landfall on southern New Jersey, becoming the strongest off-season and February hurricane to make landfall anywhere in the Atlantic on record. 18 hours later, Darrell lost hurricane intensity, and then became post-tropical the next day, dissipating during the evening of the 19th.

Darrell was a historic storm. Although causing only 49 deaths, the damages were around $100 billion, even worse than Sandy. Cleanup efforts will take months. On April 13, 2022, the WMO retired Darrell and replaced it with Darren for the 2027 season.