Hurricane Maria

Hurricane Maria

Category 5 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Maria near peak intensity to the southeast of Puerto Rico on September 19
Formed	September 16, 2017
Dissipated	October 2, 2017
(Extratropical after September 30)
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 175 mph (280 km/h)
Lowest pressure	908 mbar (hPa); 26.81 inHg
Fatalities	3,059 total
Damage	$91.61 billion (2017 USD) (Third-costliest tropical cyclone on record; costliest in Puerto Rican history)
Areas affected	Lesser Antilles (especially Dominica and the U.S. Virgin Islands), Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Turks and Caicos Islands, The Bahamas, Southeastern United States, Mid-Atlantic states
Part of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Maria was a hurricane of notable status that began in the Atlantic Ocean. It was part of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. The most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2017. Maria was the 13th named storm and 8th hurricane of the season.

Originated from easterly waves off the west coast of Africa. Maria became a tropical storm east of the Lesser Antilles on September 16 and quickly intensified to Category 5 before making landfall in Dominica on September 18.

The World Meteorological Organization retired the Maria name in April 2018, replacing it with Margot for the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, due to the large number of deaths and destruction in Puerto Rico.