VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Over the past 173 years, Virginia has experienced true hurricane-force conditions 13 times. But also in that time, a major hurricane — one that is Category 3 or higher — hasn't made a direct landfall on our shores. So, how have we gone so long without a direct hit?

When a hurricane moves ashore, the intersection of the storm's center with the coastline is considered the landfall. If you check out all of the hurricane landfalls from 1851 to the present , you'll quickly see that Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware have yet to suffer a major hurricane's landfall.

New Jersey has also not been hit with a major hurricane. Virginia neighbor North Carolina has had many landfalls — including seven major hurricanes — and New York has been hit several times as well.

So why the

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