Hurricanes Florence and Michael make it into the top Google searches of 2018
Hurricane Michael made landfall in Mexico Beach, Florida as a Category 4 storm with winds as high as 155 miles per hour. This video shows significant coastal flooding due to storm surges.
Google's annual list of the most popular searches in 2018 show many people were trying to stay up-to-date and learn about the major weather disasters of the year.
The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season featured two of the most destructive storms in United States history, Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael, which were also two of the most searched weather events in 2018.
"Looking back on the 2018 hurricane season, there were 15 named tropical storms, eight of which became hurricanes. Of those eight hurricanes, two were major hurricanes. 2018 will go down as a year more active than normal," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist and Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said.
Google released a video accompanying the list saying, "In a year of ups and downs, the world searched for "good" more than ever before" with clips of some of the most-searched content.
The two hurricanes that produced the most damage and loss of life this year did so with different characteristics.
Florence caused its death and destruction from flooding rainfall over a large area of southeastern South Carolina and southern North Carolina.
Michael's damage will primarily be attributed to its powerful winds carving a 20-mile-wide area path. Michael still produced damaging hurricane-force winds over 150 miles inland from where it made landfall.
Hurricane Florence
Hurricane Florence made the number two spot on Google's most popular news search of 2018.
"Florence made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near Wrightsville Beach on the morning of Sept. 14 with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph," Kottlowski said.
Florence’s slow-moving nature caused it to dump a historic amount of water on the Carolinas, flooding much of the region for weeks.
"The very slow movement of Florence brought phenomenal rainfall over South Carolina and North Carolina, breaking statewide rainfall records from a tropical cyclone for both North and South Carolina," Kottlowski said.
Hurricane Michael
Hurricane Michael made the number six spot on Google's most popular news search of 2018.
Michael became the strongest hurricane to ever strike the Florida Panhandle and the third-most intense hurricane to ever make landfall in the U.S. with a minimum central pressure of 27.13 inches of mercury. It was also the strongest land-falling hurricane to hit the U.S. in October since 1954.
"Hurricane Michael made landfall as a major and very strong Category 4 hurricane over Mexico Beach, Florida, near Panama City on the early afternoon of Oct. 10 with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph," Kottlowski said.
Kottlowski said Michael was the strongest hurricane to hit the U.S. since Andrew in 1992.
Report a Typo
