The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the sea surface temperature in a region over the Atlantic ocean and hurricane and tropical storm frequency in the United States. Of late, there seems to be an increase in the number of hurricanes making landfall in the United States, possibly because of the increase in temperature over time. We used NOAA data on the date of occurrence, type, and landing wind speed of hurricanes each year for the three decade time span from 1980-2010. The dates the hurricanes occurred were important in order to obtain the correct sea surface temperature for the corresponding hurricane. The averages of landing wind speeds each year were taken and graphed to visualize the change over time. There was no clear pattern or trendline for these averages since the speeds fluctuated each year. Our results showed the range of sea surface temperatures that are associated with a higher hurricane frequency.
