When and where did the strongest hurricane of the 20th century hit the United States?
A hurricane with winds estimated as fast as 200 mph hit the Florida Keys on Labor Day 1935 with almost no warning. It killed at least 400 people, including 160 World War I veterans who were building the highway to Key West. Chap. 3, page 86. Q: When was the first deliberate flight into a hurricane made and who did it? A: On July 27, 1943, Col. Joseph Duckworth, commander of the Army Air Forces Instrument Flying School in Bryan, Texas, and Lt. Ralph O’Hair flew an AT-6, a single-engine, two-seat trainer, into a hurricane that was moving ashore near Galveston. The following year, larger military airplanes began flying into hurricanes and Pacific typhoons to to collect data for forecasters. Chap. 4, page 98. Q: When was the first hurricane officially named, and what was the name? A: The National Hurricane Center began naming hurricanes in 1950, using the Korean-War era international phonetic alphabet, which meant the first named storm was “Able,” followed by “Baker,” “Charlie” and so on.
