5 things to know about Hurricane Dorian

Hurricane Dorian’s destructive path through the Bahamas as a Category 5 storm was just the start of what figures to be a storm affecting much of the southeastern Unites States and perhaps millions of people along the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

With Dorian’s path still to play out, here are 5 things we already know about Hurricane Dorian, its impact and its place in hurricane lore.

1. With sustained winds speeds of 185 mph, Dorian is tied for the second-strongest Atlantic hurricane by wind speed since 1851, along with Wilma (2005), Gilbert (1988) and Labor Day (1935). The only storm with higher wind speeds was Hurrricane Allen in 1980 with 190 mph winds –- a storm that provided a trove of scientific information, which led to insights about storm dynamics, precipitation structure and eyewall replacement cycles, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NOAA flew 13 flights into Hurricane Allen, recording an unprecedented level of data. After one particularly rocky flight, a scientist kissed the ground upon landing and resigned from the National Hurricane Research Laboratory days later.

2. This is the first and perhaps only Hurricane Dorian. Here’s why.

The World Meteorological Organization manages a formal storm-naming system. Every six years, the same list of storm names is used. The name Dorian first appeared in 2013, but the storm system that year only reached tropical storm level.

The previous “D” name was Dean, a name that was retired after 2007’s Hurricane Dean killed 44 people and caused billions of dollars’ worth of damage in the Caribbean, Hispaniola and Mexico. Names of especially destructive and deadly storms are removed and replaced with another with the same letter.

It’s possible Dorian, based on how deadly it becomes, also will be removed from the list of storms prior to its next cycle in 2025.

3. Hurricane Dorian was traveling at 1 mph for an expanded stretch of time. That’s slower than an average person walks (3 to 4 mph). Basically, Dorian was moving about as fast as a baby crawls.

4. Dorian officially has been a hurricane since Wednesday, August 28 and it’s expected to remain a hurricane at least until Saturday, September 7, for a total of 11 days. How long can a hurricane last? You don’t want to know.

Typhoon John, which formed in the Pacific Ocean in 1994, lasted for a total of 31 days, making it one of the longest hurricanes recorded. Hurricane Ginger, an Atlantic hurricane that caused one death and $10 million dollars' worth of damage in North Carolina, lasted for a total of 28 days in 1971.

Hurricanes can last anywhere between under a day to up to a month. Most hurricanes peter out either before landfall or shortly after.

5. There was some confusion over the name Dorian. It’s a boy’s name (as in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”) and it’s not "Dorain," as it was misspelled and showed up trending on Twitter throughout much of Monday.

One person who had fun with the name was actor Zach Braff, who played the character John Dorian on the TV show “Scrubs.”

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