Slow-Moving Hurricanes Like Barry Growing More Common

Dr. Jeff Masters · July 15, 2019, 12:32 PM EDT

As Tropical Storm Barry intensified into a hurricane on its three-day trek along the Gulf Coast, the storm moved at an excruciatingly slow pace—between three and nine miles per hour. The very slow motion allowed Barry to generate a larger storm surge and dump heavier rains than a faster-moving storm would have (though most of those rains happened to fall offshore this time because of Barry's unusual structure). A study published on June 3, 2019 by scientists from NASA and NOAA found that North Atlantic hurricanes like Barry have been stalling near the coast with increasing frequency in recent decades, resulting in an increase in dangerous heavy rainfall.

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