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Dear Tom,

Does the Atlantic or Gulf Coast of Florida experience more hurricanes?

Thanks,
Mina Kerr
Evanston

Dear Mina,

While no portion of Florida’s extensive coastline is immune from hurricanes, some areas are far more hurricane-prone. Overall, the Gulf Coast has a higher incidence, due to its greater expanse from the western tip of the panhandle all the way east, then south to the Everglades.  However, the state’s highest threat is from the Atlantic Coast near Melbourne south through Miami and the Keys, but then wraps around to the lower Gulf Coast through the Everglades. Another enhanced threat area is the Florida Panhandle from Pensacola east to Fort Walton Beach. Florida’s Atlantic Coast from St. Augustine north to Georgia has a significantly lower incidence of hurricane strikes, as northward-moving tropical cyclones tend to distance as the coastline indents.