After Isaias: The Hurricane Season Quiz for Storm Watchers

The Atlantic hurricane season had been oddly quiet. Then Isaias showed up, and the quiet ended in one night.

The storm made landfall near Destin, Florida, on the night of Friday, October 9, as a Category two hurricane with sustained winds of one hundred five miles per hour. FOX Weather reported that Isaias was the season's first Atlantic hurricane, which made its arrival feel even more abrupt after weeks of calm water.

The damage was real and fast. The Watchers reported that at least four people died in storm-related incidents, two in Florida and two in Alabama, and that nearly nine hundred thousand customers lost power at the peak. By Saturday evening, more than four hundred thousand were still without electricity as utility crews worked through downed trees and snapped lines. Alabama Power said it expected at least ninety-five percent of its outages to be restored by midnight Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Pacific was busy too. Surfer reported that Hurricane Simon, a Category four storm with winds near one hundred fifty-five miles per hour, was bearing down on Mexico's Pacific coast near Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta, while swells from an earlier storm named Rachel had already pummeled the Southern California coastline. A world news brief published October 11 noted shelter orders in four Mexican states as Simon approached.

This hurricane season quiz has six questions on the storms everyone was watching this weekend. No peeking.

Question one: where did Isaias come ashore?

A) Galveston, Texas
B) Near Destin, Florida
C) Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
D) Tampa, Florida

The answer is B. FOX Weather reported that Isaias made landfall near Destin, on Florida's Panhandle, around half past eight on Friday evening local time.

Question two: what category was Isaias at landfall?

A) Tropical storm
B) Category one
C) Category two
D) Category three

The answer is C. One hundred five-mile-per-hour sustained winds put Isaias comfortably inside the Category two range on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from ninety-six to one hundred ten miles per hour.

Question three: what was the strongest gust actually measured?

A) Ninety miles per hour
B) One hundred five miles per hour
C) One hundred sixteen miles per hour
D) One hundred forty miles per hour

The answer is C. A weather station near Santa Rosa Sound recorded a gust of one hundred sixteen miles per hour, according to Surfer, stronger than the storm's official sustained wind rating.

Question four: how many customers lost power at the peak?

A) About fifty thousand
B) Around two hundred thousand
C) Nearly nine hundred thousand
D) More than two million

The answer is C. FOX Weather reported that nearly nine hundred thousand customers across Florida, Alabama and Georgia initially lost power when Isaias came through.

Question five: what was the Pacific doing at the same time?

A) Enjoying a quiet week with no named storms
B) Watching Hurricane Simon, a Category four storm, approach Mexico's Pacific coast
C) Tracking a tropical storm aimed at Hawaii
D) Recording record cold water temperatures

The answer is B. Surfer reported that Hurricane Simon was packing winds near one hundred fifty-five miles per hour as it neared the coast around Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta.

Question six: how high did the water get at Panama City Beach?

A) Two feet above normal
B) Five point six feet above mean higher high water
C) Ten feet above normal
D) It barely rose at all

The answer is B. A NOAA gauge at Panama City Beach measured water five point six feet above mean higher high water, according to Surfer, with waves of thirty feet or more recorded offshore before landfall.

How did you do on the hurricane season quiz?

Six out of six: you are the friend who checks the spaghetti models before the group chat does. Four or five: solid storm-season instincts with one blind spot. Three or fewer: this hurricane season quiz says it is time to bookmark the National Hurricane Center before the next landfall.

That closes out this hurricane season quiz. The Atlantic still has weeks left in its official season, and the Pacific clearly is not finished either. Isaias was the season's first Atlantic hurricane, but not the fall's only storm story: the remnants of Hurricane Polo flooded the Southwest back in September. Send this hurricane season quiz to the friend who still thinks a Category two is nothing to worry about. For a change of pace, find out which spooky icon you are or take the International Day of the Girl quiz.