Hurricane Michael (2018)

As the 2018 Hurricane Season wore on, many people started to believe that 2018 would be the calmest Hurricane Season yet. 14 Tropical Depressions had passed with 12 of them becoming Tropical Storms. None of them had become hurricanes. 4 of them were projected to become one, but they unexpectedly dissipated. Hurricane scientists were baffled. When Tropical Depression Fifteen appeared right off the coast of Cameroon on October 12, hurricane scientists thought it was just another Tropical Storm if that. Later on the day of its birth, it earned Tropical Storm classification, and became Tropical Storm Michael. Hurricane scientists let the public know of this news, and it was assumed that it would dissipate like all other storms before it. This was explicitly said by the NHC, as all signs were pointing to that outcome. 3 days later, it was still a Tropical Storm. But when everyone woke up the next day, things got dicey. Overnight it had become a Category 2 Hurricane and had rapidly expanded in size. Not even 3 hours after the official announcement, it had strengthened up to a Category 4 Hurricane. The very next day, the NHC confirmed everyone's fears: It was a Category 5 Storm with winds roaring of up to 180 mph. Even worse, it was on a beeline to the Atlantic Coast, projected to arrive on October 23. Not only that, but it was the largest storm ever in diameter: a whopping 1,012 miles (1629 kilometers) wide, shattering the record set by Hurricane Sandy. It was on a collision course with the Carolinas, but was destined to affect Georgia, Virginia, and even Florida as well. There were no islands to slow it down and weaken it; it went above them. 2 days later, the NHC observed winds of 200 mph; the strongest Atlantic Hurricane on record. At that point, it was 2 days out from landfall. Later on October 21, it got even stronger; hitting winds of 220 mph. On the 22nd, it had hit winds of 240 mph, and the NHC came to a sobering conclusion. Category 6 was inevitable. It became the first ever Category 6 storm, and it was headed towards the East Coast. Not only that, but it was now 1,050 miles wide. Landfall came, and with it, catastrophe. It became both the deadliest and costliest storm ever to hit the US within hours. Garnering up $123.2 billion in damages already and a whopping 23,079 deaths, as it promptly whipped not only all of the Carolinas, but all of Virginia, all of Georgia, and all of peninsular Florida as well. It took 2 days for it to calm down back to a Tropical Storm. On the 25th of October, however, things got weird. It swerved and went in reverse, ravaging those 5 states a second time through, but weaker.