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Why do hurricanes have an issue with land falling on Virginia and Maryland? Too many federal employees living there?
I suspect that it's related to Hurricanes making it that far North being driven Eastwards, away from the ConUS, by the prevailing westerlies (jet stream) in the mid-latitudes. More likely to end up over us in the UK.

e2a:

1734806905021.png
 
I suspect that it's related to Hurricanes making it that far North being driven Eastwards, away from the ConUS, by the prevailing westerlies (jet stream) in the mid-latitudes. More likely to end up over us in the UK.
Ok, how does it explain the landfalls over New York and New Jersey?
 
Ok, how does it explain the landfalls over New York and New Jersey?
Well, exceptions to the general pattern, I suppose. Although there is obviously a generalised curve that N.Atlantic hurricanes tend to follow:

1734807216953.png


each, individual system will be driven by the synoptic pattern that it evolves in; being repelled by High pressure systems and drawn towards other Low pressure systems. So sometimes, because of an unusual synoptic pattern, Hurricanes can behave in unusual ways. Though, I'm aware that there are posters here who know far more about that I do.
 
Various factors (Coriolis/dominant upper level wind direction and thus steering, decreasing sea surface temperatures, increasing vertical wind shear towards higher latitudes and the state of major climate drivers) all work to reduce the probability of more northerly hurricane landfalls but don't entirely eliminate them.

The separation of the Gulf Stream from the US east coast continental shelf (the detail of which varies with the North Atlantic Oscillation) tends to keep the warm water 'fuel' further off shore as one heads north (hence the apparent paucity of landfalls in the Mid-Atlantic coastal region).

Sea in the western North Atlantic, illustrating the Gulf Stream and the separation of flow from the coast around Cape Hatteras.

However, amplification of the polar jet, quite common as the Atlantic hurricane season progresses, can bring about setups that may steer suitably placed hurricanes further north towards the New England coast. For example, the Bermuda(/Azores) high is a big player here. The extent and positioning of that can strongly determine where a lot of hurricanes track (either into the Gulf of Mexico, or to the US SE coast, or to curve around to the NE and out into the Atlantic - sometimes towards Europe, or to bounce one back towards New England - especially where you get a low over the eastern US and a high over eastern Canada).

Illustration of the influence of the Bermuda High on the track of Atlantic hurricanes.
e2a: Now with illustrative/explanatory eye candy.
 
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