Atlantic hurricane season

The Atlantic hurricane season is the period in a year when hurricanes usually form in the Atlantic Ocean. Tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic are called hurricanes, tropical storms, or tropical depressions. In addition, there have been several storms over the years that have not been fully tropical and are categorized as subtropical depressions and subtropical storms. Even though subtropical storms and subtropical depressions are not technically as strong as tropical cyclones, the damages can still be devastating.

Atlantic tropical storm and hurricane frequency, by month[1]

Worldwide, tropical cyclone activity peaks in late summer, when the difference between temperatures aloft and sea surface temperatures is the greatest. However, each particular basin has its own seasonal patterns. On a worldwide scale, May is the least active month, while September is the most active.[2] In the Northern Atlantic Ocean, a distinct hurricane season occurs from June 1 to November 30, sharply peaking from late August through September;[2] the season's climatological peak of activity occurs around September 10 each season.[3] This is the norm, but in 1938, the Atlantic hurricane season started as early as January 3.

Tropical disturbances that reach tropical storm intensity are named from a pre-determined list. On average, 10.1 named storms occur each season, with an average of 5.9 becoming hurricanes and 2.5 becoming major hurricanes (Category 3 or greater). The most active season was 2005, during which 28 tropical cyclones formed, of which a record 15 became hurricanes. The least active season was 1914, with only one known tropical cyclone developing during that year.[4] The Atlantic hurricane season is a time when most tropical cyclones are expected to develop across the northern Atlantic Ocean. It is currently defined as the time frame from June 1 through November 30, though in the past the season was defined as a shorter time frame. During the season, regular tropical weather outlooks are issued by the National Hurricane Center, and coordination between the Weather Prediction Center and National Hurricane Center occurs for systems which have not formed yet, but could develop during the next three to seven days.

Concept

See also: History of Atlantic hurricane warnings

The basic concept of a hurricane season began during 1935,[5] when dedicated wire circuits known as hurricane circuits began to be set up along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts,[6] a process completed by 1955.[7] It was originally the time frame when the tropics were monitored routinely for tropical cyclone activity, and was originally defined as from June 15 through October 31.[8] Over the years, the beginning date was shifted back to June 1, while the end date was shifted to November 15,[6] before settling at November 30 by 1965.[9][10] This was when hurricane reconnaissance planes were sent out to fly across the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico on a routine basis to look for potential tropical cyclones, in the years before the continuous weather satellite era.[8] Since regular satellite surveillance began, hurricane hunter aircraft fly only into storm areas which are first spotted by satellite imagery.[11]

Operations

See also: National Hurricane Center and Weather Prediction Center

During the hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center routinely issues their Tropical Weather Outlook product, which identifies areas of concern within the tropics which could develop into tropical cyclones. If systems occur outside the defined hurricane season, special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued.[12] Routine coordination occurs at 1700 UTC each day between the Weather Prediction Center and National Hurricane Center to identify systems for the pressure maps three to seven days into the future within the tropics, and points for existing tropical cyclones six to seven days into the future.[13] Possible tropical cyclones are depicted with a closed isobar, while systems with less certainty to develop are depicted as "spot lows" with no isobar surrounding them.

HURDAT

Main article: HURDAT

The North Atlantic hurricane database, or HURDAT, is the database for all tropical storms and hurricanes for the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, including those that have made landfall in the United States. The original database of six-hourly positions and intensities were put together in the 1960s in support of the Apollo space program to help provide statistical track forecast guidance. In the intervening years, this database — which is now freely and easily accessible on the Internet from the National Hurricane Center's (NHC) webpage — has been utilized for a wide variety of uses: climatic change studies, seasonal forecasting, risk assessment for county emergency managers, analysis of potential losses for insurance and business interests, intensity forecasting techniques and verification of official and various model predictions of track and intensity.

HURDAT was not designed with all of these uses in mind when it was first put together and not all of them may be appropriate given its original motivation. HURDAT contains numerous systematic as well as some random errors in the database. Additionally, analysis techniques have changed over the years at NHC as their understanding of tropical cyclones has developed, leading to biases in the historical database. Another difficulty in applying the hurricane database to studies concerned with landfalling events is the lack of exact location, time and intensity at hurricane landfall.

Re-analysis project

HURDAT is regularly updated annually to reflect the previous season's activity. The older portion of the database has been regularly revised since 2001. The first time in 2001 led to the addition of tropical cyclone tracks for the years 1851 to 1885. The second time was August 1992 when Hurricane Andrew was upgraded to a Category 5. Recent efforts into uncovering undocumented historical hurricanes in the late 19th and 20th centuries by various researchers have greatly increased our knowledge of these past events. Possible changes for the years 1951 onward are not yet incorporated into the HURDAT database. Because of all of these issues, a re-analysis of the Atlantic hurricane database is being attempted that will be completed in three years.

In addition to the groundbreaking work by Partagas, additional analyses, digitization and quality control of the data was carried out by researchers at the NOAA Hurricane Research Division funded by the NOAA Office of Global Programs.[14]

The National Hurricane Center's Best Track Change Committee has approved changes for a few recent cyclones, such as Hurricane Andrew. Official changes to the Atlantic hurricane database are approved by the National Hurricane Center Best Track Change Committee.

1494–1850 (pre-HURDAT era)

Period	Seasons	Individual years
Pre-19th century	Pre-17th century (pre 1600), 17th century (1600s), 18th century (1700s)	1780
1800–1849	1800–1809, 1810–1819, 1820–1829, 1830–1839, 1840–1849	1842

1850–1899 (1851–present HURDAT era)

Most intense Atlantic
hurricane seasons
(since 1850)[nb 1]

Rank	Season	ACE
1	1933	259
2	2005	250
3	1893	231
4	1926	230
5	1995	228
6	2004	227
7	2017	225
8	1950	211
9	1961	189
10	1998	182

1850s

Year	Map	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Strongest storm	Major landfall hurricanes	Notes
1850		7	7	0	Not known yet	One
1851		6	3	1	24	Four	• Great Florida Middle Panhandle Hurricane of 1851 (cat 3)	First Atlantic hurricane season to be included in the ATL-HURDAT
1852		5	5	1	100+	One	• Great Mobile Hurricane of 1852 (cat 3)	One of only three known seasons in which all tropical cyclones became hurricanes.
1853		8	4	2	40	Three
1854		5	3	1	30+	Three	• Coastal Hurricane of 1854 (cat 3)
1855		5	4	1	Not known	Five	• Middle Gulf Shore Hurricane of 1855 (cat 3)
1856		6	4	2	200+	One	• The Last Island Hurricane of 1856 (cat 4)
1857		4	3	0	424	Two & Four
1858		6	6	0	None	Three & Six
1859		8	7	1	Numerous	Six

1860s

Year	Map	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Strongest storm	Major landfall hurricanes	Notes
1860		7	6	1	60+	One
1861		8	6	0	22+	One and Three
1862		6	3	0	3	Two and Three
1863		9	5	0	90	One, Two, Three & Four
1864		5	3	0	None	One, Three & Five
1865		7	3	0	326	Four & Seven
1866		7	6	1	383	Six	• Great Bahamas Hurricane of 1866 (cat 4)
1867		9	6	1	811	'San Narciso'	• Hurricane San Narciso of 1867 (cat 3)
1868		4	3	0	2	One, Two & Four
1869		10	7	1	38	Six	• First New England Gale of 1869 (cat 3) • Saxby's New England Gale of 1869 (cat 2)

1870s

Year	Map	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Strongest storm	Major landfall hurricanes	Notes
1870		11	10	2	2,052	Four	• First Key West Hurricane 1870/Hurricane of San Marcos 1870 (cat 3) • Second Key West Hurricane 1870 (cat 2)
1871		8	6	2	30	Three and Four	• Central Florida Hurricane of 1871 (cat 3) • Hurricane Santa Juana of 1871 (cat 3)
1872		5	4	0	Unknown	Two
1873		5	3	2	626	Five	• Central Florida Hurricane of 1873 (cat 3)
1874		7	4	0	Unknown	Seven
1875		6	5	1	800	Three	• Indianola Hurricane of 1875 (cat 3)
1876		5	4	2	19	"San Felipe"	• Hurricane San Felipe of 1876 (cat 3) • Cuba-South Florida Hurricane of 1876 (cat 3)
1877		8	3	1	34	Four	• Florida Panhandle hurricane of 1877 (cat 3)
1878		12	10	1	108	Seven	• Gale of 1878 (cat 2)
1879		8	6	2	47	Four	• Great Beaufort Carolina Hurricane of 1879 (cat 3) • Louisiana Hurricane of 1879 (cat 3)

1880s

Year	Map	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Strongest storm	Major landfall hurricanes	Notes
1880		11	9	2	133	Eight	• Brownsville Hurricane of 1880 (cat 4)
1881		7	4	0	700	Five and Six	• Georgia Hurricane of 1881 (cat 2)
1882		6	5	2	6	Six	• Pensacola Hurricane of 1882 (cat 3) • Cuba Hurricane of 1882 (cat 4)
1883		4	3	2	236	Two and Three	• Bahamas-North Carolina Hurricane of 1883 (cat 3)
1884		4	4	1	8	Two
1885		8	6	1	25	Two
1886		12	10	4	200+	"Indianola"	• Indianola Hurricane of 1886 (cat 4) • Cuba Hurricane of 1886 (cat 3) • Texas-Louisiana Hurricane of 1886 (cat 3)	Seven hurricanes struck the United States, the most during a single year.[17] Indianola, Texas struck by two major hurricanes (1875 and 1886) which effectively closed down the town.[18]
1887		19	11	2	2	Seven		Tied for third most active season on record; with 1995, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Has the most storms forming outside the normal hurricane season One of only 4 seasons to have both a preseason and postseason storm
1888		9	6	2	924	Three and Four	• Miami-Louisiana Hurricane of 1888 (cat 3) • Hurricane San Gil of 1888 (cat 3)
1889		9	6	0	40	Six

1890s

Year	Map	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Strongest storm	Major landfall hurricanes	Notes
1890		4	2	1	9	Three
1891		10	7	1	700+	"Martinique"	• Martinique Hurricane of 1891 (cat 3)
1892		9	5	0	16	Three, Five, and Seven
1893		12	10	5	4,028	"Cheniere Caminada"	• Hurricane San Roque of 1893 (cat 3) • New York Hurricane of 1893 (cat 3) • 1893 Sea Islands Hurricane (cat 3) • Great Charleston Hurricane (cat 3) • 1893 Cheniere Caminada hurricane (cat 4)	5 major hurricanes made landfall this year. Two hurricanes caused more than 2,000 deaths in the United States. Four simultaneous hurricanes on August 22, one of two times on record.
1894		7	5	4	200+	Six	• Florida Panhandle Hurricane of 1894 (cat 3)
1895		6	2	0	56	Two
1896		7	6	2	130	Four	• Hurricane San Ramon of 1896 (cat 3) • Cedar Keys Hurricane of 1896 (cat 3)
1897		6	3	0	None	One
1898		11	5	1	562	"Georgia"	• Georgia Hurricane of 1898 (cat 4)	Major hurricane last struck Georgia in 1881
1899		9	5	2	3,439	"San Ciriaco"	• Hurricane San Ciriaco of 1899/Great Bahamas Hurricane of 1899 (cat 4)	The San Ciriaco hurricane was the longest lasting Atlantic hurricane on record

1900s

NOTE: In the following tables, all estimates of damage costs are expressed in contemporaneous US dollars (USD).

1900s

Year	Map	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Damage USD	Strongest storm	Major landfall hurricanes	Notes
1900		7	3	2	8,000+	$60 million	"Galveston"	• Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 (cat 4)	The Galveston hurricane was the deadliest disaster in the United States.
1901		12	5	1	10	$1 million	Seven
1902		5	3	0	None	Unknown	Four
1903		10	7	1	228	$1.15 million	Two	• Jamaica Hurricane of 1903 (cat 3)
1904		5	3	0	87	$1 million	Two
1905		5	1	1	1	Unknown	Four
1906		11	6	3	367	$2.48 million	Four	• Mississippi Hurricane of 1906 (cat 3) • Florida Keys Hurricane of 1906 (cat 3)
1907		5	0	0	None	Unknown	One		One of two seasons with no recorded hurricanes, with the other being 1914.
1908		10	6	1	None	Unknown	Six		Includes the only known March tropical cyclone in the basin
1909		11	6	4	4,614	$75 million	"Grand Isle"	• 1909 Velasco hurricane (cat 3) • 1909 Monterrey hurricane (cat 3) • 1909 Grand Isle hurricane (cat 3) • 1909 Key West Hurricane (cat 3) • 1909 Greater Antilles hurricane (cat 2)	3 major hurricanes made landfall this year

1910s

Year	Map	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Damage USD	Strongest storm	Major landfall hurricanes	Notes
1910		5	3	1	100	$1.25 million	"Cuba"	• The Great Cuba Hurricane of 1910 (cat 4)
1911		6	3	0	27	$3 million	Three
1912		7	4	1	116	$67,000	Seven	• The Jamaica Hurricane of 1912 (cat 3)
1913		6	4	0	5	$4 million	Four
1914		1	0	0	0	Unknown	One		Least active season on record. One of two seasons with no recorded hurricanes, with the other being 1907.
1915		6	5	4	675	$63 million	"New Orleans"	• Great Galveston Hurricane of 1915 (cat 4) • New Orleans Hurricanes of 1915 (cat 4)	Two cat 4 hurricanes made landfall in US in same year. Galveston last struck with major hurricane in 1900.
1916		15	10	5	31	$5.9 million	"Texas"	• Gulf Coast Hurricane of 1916 (cat 3) • Charleston Hurricane of 1916 (cat 3) • Great Texas Hurricane of 1916 (cat 4)	3 major hurricanes made landfall this year following a very active 1915 season.
1917		4	2	2	5	$170,000	"Nueva Gerona"	• Nueva Gerona Hurricane of 1917 (cat 4)
1918		6	4	1	34	$5+ million	One	• Louisiana Hurricane of 1918 (cat 3)
1919		5	2	1	~900	$22 million	"Florida Keys"	• Great Florida Keys Hurricane of 1919 (cat 4)

1920s

Year	Map	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Damage USD	Strongest storm	Major landfall hurricanes	Notes
1920		5	4	0	2	$15.75 million	One
1921		7	5	2	6	$36.5 million	"Tampa Bay"	• Hurricane San Pedro of 1921 (cat 3) • Great Tampa Bay Hurricane of 1921 (cat 4)
1922		5	3	1	Unknown	Unknown	Two
1923		9	4	1	0	Unknown	Five
1924		11	5	2	150+	Unknown	"Cuba"	• Great Cuba Hurricane of 1924 (cat 5)	The first officially classified Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson Scale
1925		4	2	0	59+	$19.9 million	One
1926		11	8	6	1,315+	$1.4+ billion	"Miami"	• The Great Bahamas Hurricane of 1926 (cat 4) • Nova Scotia Hurricane of 1926 (cat 3) • Louisiana hurricane of 1926 (cat 3) • Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 (cat 4) • Great Havana-Bermuda Hurricane of 1926 (cat 4)	6 major hurricanes this year, 5 major landfalls
1927		8	4	1	184	Unknown	"Nova Scotia"	• Nova Scotia Hurricane of 1927 (cat 3)
1928		6	4	1	4,000+	$952.5+ million	"Okeechobee"	• Great Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928 (cat 5)	The Okeechobee hurricane is the only known hurricane to strike Puerto Rico at Category 5 strength.
1929		5	3	1	51	$9.0 million	"Florida"	• Great Bahamas Hurricane of 1929 (cat 4)

1930s

Year	Map	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Damage USD	Strongest storm	Major landfall hurricanes	Notes
1930		3	2	2	8,000	$50 million	"Dominican Republic"	• Dominican Republic Hurricane of 1930 (cat 4)	The fifth deadliest hurricane on record
1931		13	3	1	2,502	$7.5 million	"Belize"	• Belize Hurricane of 1931 (cat 4)
1932		15	6	4	3,315	$37 million	"Cuba"	• Freeport Texas Hurricane of 1932 (cat 4) • Great Bahamas Hurricane of 1932 (cat 5) • Hurricane San Ciprián of 1932 (cat 4) • Great Cuba Hurricane of 1932 (cat 5)	Two Category 5 hurricanes; one in November (the latest such on record); four major hurricanes made landfall
1933		20	11	6	651	$86.6 million	"Tampico"	• Chesapeake–Potomac Hurricane of 1933 (cat 4) • Great Cuba-Brownsville Hurricane of 1933 (cat 5) • Treasure Coast Hurricane of 1933 (cat 4) • Outer Banks Hurricane of 1933 (cat 4) • Tampico Yucatán Hurricane of 1933 (cat 5)	Second most active season on record following very active 1932 season. Two Category 5 hurricanes. Five major hurricanes made landfall
1934		13	7	1	2,017	$4.26 million	Thirteen
1935		8	5	3	2,604	$12.5 million	"Labor Day"	• Great Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 (cat 5) • Cuba Hurricane of 1935 (cat 4)	The Labor Day hurricane is most intense landfalling tropical cyclone in the Atlantic known to date
1936		17	7	1	5	$1.23 million	Thirteen		Very active season with no major landfalling hurricanes
1937		11	4	1	0	Unknown	Six
1938		9	4	2	~700	$290.3 million	"New England"	• Long Island Express Hurricane (cat 3)	Earliest starting season on record (January 3). Long Island express made landfall as a fast moving category 3.
1939		6	3	1	5	Unknown	Five

1940s

Year	Map	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Damage USD	Strongest storm	Major landfall hurricanes	Notes
1940		9	6	0	101	$4.7 million	Four
1941		6	4	3	63	$10 million	"Florida"	• Texas Hurricane of 1941 (cat 3) • Nicaragua Hurricane of 1941 (cat 4) • Florida Hurricane of 1941 (cat 3)	3 major hurricanes made landfall this year
1942		11	4	1	17	$30.6 million	Three	• Matagorda Texas Hurricane of 1942 (cat 3)
1943		10	5	2	19	$17.2 million	Three		First year of Hurricane Hunters
1944		14	8	3	1,153	$202 million	"Great Atlantic"	• Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944 (cat 4) • Cuba-Florida Hurricane of 1944 (cat 4)	Atlantic hurricane only category 2 at landfall
1945		11	5	2	80	$80 million	"Southeast Florida"	• Texas Hurricane of 1945 (cat 3) • Homestead Florida Hurricane of 1945 (cat 4)
1946		7	3	0	5	$5.2 million	Four
1947		10	5	2	94	$145.3 million	"Fort Lauderdale"	• Fort Lauderdale Hurricane of 1947 [George] (cat 4) • Cape Sable Hurricane of 1947 [King] (cat 2)	First year of Atlantic tropical cyclone naming.[19]
1948		10	6	4	94	$30.9 million	"Florida"	• Florida Hurricane of 1948 [Easy] (cat 4) • Miami Hurricane of 1948 [Fox] (cat 3)
1949		16	7	3	3	$58.2 million	"Florida"	• Florida Hurricane of 1949 (cat 4) • Texas Hurricane of 1949 (cat 2)

1950s

Year	Map	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Damage USD	Strongest storm	Retired names	Notes
1950		16	11	6	20	$37 million	Dog	None	Record 8 tropical storms in October
1951		12	8	3	257	$80 million	Easy	None
1952		11	5	2	607	$3.75 million	Fox	None	Includes the only known February tropical cyclone in the basin
1953		14	7	3	1	$6 million	Carol	None	First year of female names for storms. One of only 4 seasons to have both a preseason and postseason storm.
1954		16	7	3	1,069	$752 million	Hazel	Carol, Edna, Hazel	Includes Alice, one of only two storms in the basin to span two calendar years, tying for the latest storm in a season
1955		13	9	4	1,518	$1.2 billion	Janet	Connie, Diane, Ione, Janet
1956		12	4	1	76	$67.8 million	Betsy	None
1957		8	3	2	513	$152.5 million	Carrie	Audrey
1958		12	7	3	41	$12 million	Helene	None
1959		14	7	2	59	$23.3 million	Gracie	Gracie

1960s

Year	Map	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Damage USD	Strongest storm	Retired names	Notes
1960		8	4	2	455	$442.34 million	Donna	Donna
1961		12	8	5	345	$392 million	Hattie	Carla, Hattie	Two Category 5 Hurricanes
1962		7	4	0	39	>$4.88 million	Ella	None	No major hurricanes
1963		10	7	3	7,225	$589 million	Flora	Flora	The sixth deadliest hurricane on record
1964		13	7	5	261	$605 million	Cleo	Cleo, Dora, Hilda
1965		10	4	1	76	$1.45 billion	Betsy	Betsy	Current extent of the reanalysis project as of November 2019
1966		11	7	3	1,094	$410 million	Inez	Inez	One named storm de-classified in post-analysis
1967		8	6	1	64	$217 million	Beulah	Beulah
1968		8	4	0	10	$10 million	Gladys	None	The name "Edna" was retroactively retired, due to the storm in 1954. There was one subtropical storm with Category 1 hurricane strength. No major hurricanes, nor category 2 hurricanes.
1969		18	12	5	364	$1.7 billion	Camille	Camille	Fourth most active season on record. Tied for second most hurricanes in a season on record. Includes one subtropical storm.

1970s

Year	Map	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Damage USD	Strongest storm	Retired names	Notes
1970		10	5	2	71	$454 million	Celia	Celia	First season of a 24-year period of decreased activity in the Atlantic (-AMO)
1971		13	6	1	45	$213 million	Edith	None	Includes first documented Hurricane to cross Central America, Irene
1972		7	3	0	122	$2.1 billion	Betty	Agnes	Includes three subtropical storms No major hurricanes
1973		8	4	1	15	$18 million	Ellen	None	Includes one subtropical storm
1974		11	4	2	8,260+	$1.97 billion	Carmen	Carmen, Fifi	Includes four subtropical storms Fifi was the fourth deadliest hurricane on record
1975		9	6	3	80	$100 million	Gladys	Eloise	Includes one subtropical storm
1976		10	6	2	72	$100 million	Belle	None	Includes two subtropical storms
1977		6	5	1	10	$10 million	Anita	Anita
1978		12	5	2	37	$45 million	Greta	Greta	Includes the January subtropical storm in the Atlantic
1979		9	5	2	2,118	$4.3 billion	David	David, Frederic	First year for alternating male/female names. Includes one subtropical storm of Category One strength .

1980s

Year	Map	Number of tropical cyclones	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Damage USD	Strongest storm	Retired names	Notes
1980		15	11	9	2	256	$1 billion	Allen	Allen	Includes the storm with the highest sustained winds attained so far in the Atlantic
1981		18	12	7	3	10	$45 million	Harvey	None
1982		9	6	2	1	141	$100 million	Debby	None	Includes one subtropical storm
1983		7	4	3	1	22	$2.6 billion	Alicia	Alicia	Least active hurricane season in the satellite era
1984		17	13	5	1	35	$66 million	Diana	None	Includes one subtropical storm
1985		13	11	7	3	241	$4.5 billion	Gloria	Elena, Gloria	Hurricane Kate struck Florida on November 21, the latest United States hurricane landfall
1986		10	6	4	0	70	$57 million	Earl	None	No major hurricanes
1987		14	7	3	1	10	$90 million	Emily	None
1988		19	12	5	3	550	$7 billion	Gilbert	Gilbert, Joan	Included strongest hurricane on record until 2005; first hurricane since 1978 to cross Central America
1989		15	11	7	2	112	$10.7 billion	Hugo	Hugo

1990s

Year	Map	Number of tropical cyclones	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Damage USD	Strongest storm	Retired names	Notes
1990		16	14	8	1	116	$150 million	Gustav	Diana, Klaus	No tropical storms or hurricanes made landfall in the United States
1991		12	8	4	2	30	$2.5 billion	Claudette	Bob
1992		9	7	4	1	66	$27 billion	Andrew	Andrew	Hurricane Andrew was the costliest U.S. hurricane until 2005. Includes one subtropical storm.
1993		10	8	4	1	274	$271 million	Emily	None
1994		12	7	3	0	1,184	$1.56 billion	Florence	None	No major hurricanes
1995		21	19	11	5	115	$9.3 billion	Opal	Luis, Marilyn, Opal, Roxanne	Tied for third most active season on record First season of an ongoing period of increased activity in the Atlantic (+AMO)
1996		13	13	9	6	179	$3.8 billion	Edouard	Cesar, Fran, Hortense	Cesar was renamed Douglas after it crossed Central America. Highest number of major hurricanes at the time
1997		9	8	3	1	11	$110 million	Erika	None	Includes one subtropical storm
1998		14	14	10	3	12,000+	$12.2 billion	Mitch	Georges, Mitch	Four simultaneous hurricanes on September 26, the first time since 1893. Hurricane Mitch was the deadliest hurricane in over 200 years.
1999		16	12	8	5	465	$5.9 billion	Floyd	Floyd, Lenny	Most Category 4 hurricanes on record
Total		132	110	64	25	14,440	$62.7 billion	Mitch	15

2000s

NOTE: In the following tables, all estimates of damage costs are expressed in contemporaneous US dollars (USD).

2000s

Year	Map	Number of tropical cyclones	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Damage USD	Strongest storm	Retired names	Notes
2000		19	15	8	3	105	$1.296 billion	Keith	Keith	Includes one subtropical storm
2001		17	15	9	4	187	$11.45 billion	Michelle	Allison, Iris, Michelle
2002		14	12	4	2	50	$2.47 billion	Isidore	Isidore, Lili	Record-tying 8 named storms formed in September
2003		21	16	7	3	93	$6.33 billion	Isabel	Fabian, Isabel, Juan	2 off-season storms
2004		17	15	9	6	3,260	$61.17 billion	Ivan	Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne	Includes one subtropical storm Record-tying 8 named storms forming in August
2005		31	28	15	7	3,960	$180.7 billion	Wilma	Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan, Wilma	Second costliest hurricane season on record Season holds most activity records, including cyclones, storms, hurricanes, major hurricanes and Category 5's (4) Most retired names Only year to use the Greek alphabet Includes 1 subtropical storm and 1 subtropical depression
2006		10	10	5	2	14	$504.42 million	Gordon and Helene	None
2007		17	15	6	2	478	$3.42 billion	Dean	Dean, Felix, Noel	Includes one subtropical storm Two Category 5 Hurricanes that made landfall
2008		17	16	8	5	1,065	$49.46 billion	Ike	Gustav, Ike, Paloma	Tied for fifth most active season on record Only year on record in which a major hurricane existed in every month from July through November
2009		11	9	3	2	9	$58 million	Bill	None
Total		174	151	74	36	9,221	$316.89 billion	Wilma	24 retired names

2010s

Year	Map	Number of tropical cyclones	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Damage USD	Strongest storm	Retired names	Notes
2010		21	19	12	5	392	$7.4 billion	Igor	Igor, Tomas	Tied for third most active season on record (with 1887, 1995, 2011, and 2012) Tied for second most hurricanes in a season on record with twelve (Alex, Danielle, Earl, Igor, Julia, Karl, Lisa, Otto, Paula, Richard, Shary, and Tomas) Record tying 8 named storms forming in September (Gaston through Nicole)
2011		20	19	7	4	112	$17.4 billion	Ophelia	Irene	Tied for third most active season on record (with 1887, 1995, 2010, and 2012)
2012		19	19	10	2	302	$72.32 billion	Sandy	Sandy	Tied for third most active season (with 1887, 1995, 2010, and 2011) Tied (with 2016 and 2020) for most active season before July (Alberto through Debby) Record tying 8 named storms forming in August (Ernesto through Leslie [Leslie spanned most of September])
2013		15	14	2	0	54	$1.512 billion	Humberto	Ingrid	Includes one subtropical storm (Unnamed December SS [14L]) No major hurricanes, nor Category 2 hurricanes Tied (with 1982) for fewest hurricanes since 1930 (Humberto and Ingrid, a tie with Alberto and Debby in 1982)
2014		9	8	6	2	21	$371.6 million	Gonzalo	None
2015		12	11	4	2	89	$813.9 million	Joaquin	Erika, Joaquin
2016		16	15	7	4	748	≥ $17.49 billion	Matthew	Matthew, Otto	Earliest start since 1938 (January 12, since January 3) Record for earliest formation of 4th named storm (Danielle) Tied (with 2012 and 2020) for most active season before July (Alex through Danielle) Includes southernmost Category 5 on record, and the first since 2007 (Matthew, since Felix) First hurricane in 20 years to cross Central America into the Eastern Pacific basin (Otto)
2017		18	17	10	6	3,363	≥ $294.67 billion	Maria	Harvey, Irma, Maria, Nate	Costliest hurricane season on record (US$294.67 Billion) First April system (Arlene) since 2003 (Ana) Earliest Main Development Region named storm on record (Bret) First U.S. major hurricane landfall since Wilma in 2005 (Harvey) Highest rainfall produced by a tropical cyclone in the United States and its territories (Harvey) First-ever three Category 4 U.S. hurricane landfalls in a single season (Harvey, Irma, and Maria) Second season to feature multiple Category 5 landfalls after 2007 (Irma and Maria after Dean and Felix) Only one of four seasons to produce ten hurricanes in a row (Franklin through Ophelia) Only season on record with three hurricanes with an ACE value over 40 (Irma, Jose, and Maria) Most ACE produced in a single month in Atlantic basin (September, caused by Irma through Maria) Easternmost Major hurricane on record (Ophelia)
2018		16	15	8	2	175	≥ $50.205 billion	Michael	Florence, Michael	Includes a record seven storms that were subtropical at one point (Alberto, Beryl, Debby, Ernesto, Joyce, Leslie, and Oscar) Fourth consecutive season for a storm to develop before the official start (Alberto) The first season on record to have a Category 5 hurricane present in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean (Michael, followed by Lane, Walaka, and Willa)
2019		20	18	6	3	107	≥ $11.12 billion	Dorian	TBD	Record fifth consecutive season for a storm to develop before the official start (Andrea). Includes two subtropical storms (Andrea and Rebekah). Dorian and Lorenzo in 2019 became two of six Category 5 storms in four years, the others being Matthew, Irma and Maria, and Michael, the most consecutive years with Category 5 storms on record.
Total		166	155	72	30	5,359	$470.50 billion	Maria

2020s

Year	Map	Number of tropical cyclones	Number of tropical storms	Number of hurricanes	Number of major hurricanes	Deaths	Damage USD	Strongest storm	Retired names	Notes
2020		12	11	2	0	30	>$1.77 billion	Hanna	TBD	Record-breaking 6th straight season with two pre-season storms. (Arthur and Bertha). Holds the record for the earliest formation date of the third, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh named storms. Record-tying 5 named storms in July First season on record to have 9 tropical storms form before August
Total		12	11	2	0	30	>$1.77 billion	Hanna

Number of tropical storms and hurricanes per season

See also: Tropical cyclones and climate change

This bar chart shows the number of named storms and hurricanes per year from 1851–2019.

A 2011 study analyzing one of the main sources of hurricanes - the African easterly wave (AEW) - found that the change in AEWs is closely linked to increased activity of intense hurricanes in the North Atlantic. The synoptic concurrence of AEWs in driving the dynamics of the Sahel greening also appears to increase tropical cyclogenesis over the North Atlantic.[20]

Tropical cyclone count adjusted for lack of observation prior to 1965.

Number of storms of each strength since the satellite era

Season	Tropical Depressions	Named Storms	Hurricanes	Category ≥2	Major hurricanes (Category ≥3)	Category≥4	Category 5
1967	29	8	6	2	1	1	1
1968	14	8[nb 2]	5[nb 3]	0	0	0	0
1969	20	18[nb 4]	12	7	5	1	1
1970	19	10[nb 5]	5	3	2	0	0
1971	22	13	6	2	1	1	1
1972	19	7	3	1	0	0	0
1973	24	8	4	1	1	0	0
1974	21	11[nb 6]	4	3	2	1	0
1975	23	9[nb 7]	6	5	3	1	0
1976	23	10[nb 8]	6	4	2	0	0
1977	16	6	5	1	1	1	1
1978	24	12[nb 9]	5	3	2	2	0
1979	26	9[nb 10]	5[nb 11]	3	2	2	1
1980	15	11	9	5	2	1	1
1981	22	12[nb 12]	7	4	3	1	0
1982	9	6[nb 13]	2	1	1	1	0
1983	7	4	3	1	1	0	0
1984	20	13[nb 14]	5	2	1	1	0
1985	14	11	7	3	3	1	0
1986	10	6	4	1	0	0	0
1987	14	7	3	1	1	0	0
1988	19	12	5	3	3	3	1
1989	15	11	7	4	2	2	1
1990	16	14	8	2	1	0	0
1991	12	8[nb 15]	4[nb 16]	3	2	1	0
1992	10	7[nb 17]	4	3	1	1	1
1993	10	8	4	2	1	0	0
1994	12	7[nb 18]	3	1	0	0	0
1995	21	19	11	8	5	3	0
1996	13[nb 19]	13[nb 20]	9[nb 21]	6	6	2	0
1997	9	8[nb 22]	3	1	1	0	0
1998	14	14	10	7	3	2	1
1999	16	12	8	8	5	5	0
2000	19	15[nb 23]	8	4	3	2	0
2001	17	15	9	5	4	2	0
2002	14	12	4	3	2	1	0
2003	21	16	7	4	3	2	1
2004	16	15	9	7	6	4	1
2005	31	28[nb 24]	15	8	7	5	4
2006	10	10[nb 25]	5	2	2	0	0
2007	17	15	6	2	2	2	2
2008	17	16	8	6	5	4	0
2009	11	9	3	3	2	1	0
2010	21	19	12	9	5	4	0
2011	20	19	7	4	4	2	0
2012	19	19	10	5	2	0	0
2013	15	14[nb 26]	2	0	0	0	0
2014	9	8	6	3	2	1	0
2015	12	11	4	2	2	1	0
2016	16	15[nb 27]	7	4	4	2	1
2017	18[nb 28]	17[nb 29]	10	8	6	4	2
2018	16	15	8	5	2	2	1
2019	20	18	6	4	3	2	2
2020	12	11	2

Notes

1. There is an undercount bias of zero to six tropical cyclones per year between 1851 and 1885 and zero to four per year between 1886 and 1910, due to the lack of modern observation techniques, see Tropical cyclone observation. This may have led to significantly lower ACE ratings for hurricane seasons prior to 1910.[15][16]
2. This includes one subtropical hurricane that was not named at the time.
3. This includes one subtropical hurricane that was not named at the time.
4. This includes one subtropical storm that was not named at the time.
5. This includes three subtropical storms that were not named at the time.
6. This includes one subtropical storm that was not named at the time.
7. This includes one subtropical storm that was not named at the time.
8. This includes two subtropical storms that were not named at the time.
9. This includes one subtropical storm that was not named at the time.
10. This includes one subtropical hurricane that was not named at the time.
11. This includes one subtropical hurricane that was not named at the time.
12. This includes one subtropical storm that was not named at the time.
13. This includes one subtropical storm that was not named at the time.
14. This includes one subtropical storm that was not named at the time.
15. This includes one tropical hurricane that was not formally named but was nicknamed "the Perfect Storm".
16. This includes one tropical hurricane that was not formally named but was nicknamed "the Perfect Storm".
17. This includes one subtropical storm that was not named at the time.
18. This does not include two additional tropical storm-force cyclones formed late in the season that may have been subtropical or tropical but were each reported by the NHC as extropical.
19. This does not include one subtropical hurricane that formed over the Great Lakes and was not formally named but was nicknamed "Huron".
20. This does not include one subtropical hurricane that formed over the Great Lakes and was not formally named but was nicknamed "Huron".
21. This does not include one subtropical hurricane that formed over the Great Lakes and was not formally named but was nicknamed "Huron".
22. This includes one subtropical storm that was not named at the time.
23. This includes one subtropical storm that was not named at the time.
24. This includes one subtropical storm that was not named at the time.
25. This includes one tropical storm that was not named at the time.
26. This includes one subtropical storm that was not named at the time.
27. This does not include one additional tropical storm-force cyclone over the Bay of Biscay that may have been subtropical but was reported by the NHC as extropical.
28. This does not include one subtropical storm that formed over the Mediterranean Sea and was not reported on by the NHC.
29. This does not include one subtropical storm that formed over the Mediterranean Sea and was not reported on by the NHC.

See also

Parent topics

• Tropical cyclone
• List of environment topics
• List of tropical cyclones
• Lists of tropical cyclone names
• List of previous tropical cyclone names
• List of historical tropical cyclone names

Atlantic hurricane topics

• Atlantic hurricane
• Accumulated cyclone energy
• List of Atlantic hurricane records

Other tropical cyclone basins

• Pacific hurricane season
• Pacific typhoon season
• North Indian Ocean tropical cyclone season
• South-West Indian Ocean tropical cyclone season
• Australian region tropical cyclone season
• South Pacific tropical cyclone season
• South Atlantic tropical cyclone
• Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone

References

1. Landsea, Chris (contributor from the NHC). "Total and Average Number of Tropical Cylones by Month (1851-2017)". aoml.noaa.gov. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. Archived from the original on September 1, 2018.
2. Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Hurricane Research Division. "Frequently Asked Questions: When is hurricane season?". NOAA. Archived from the original on July 18, 2006. Retrieved July 25, 2006.
3. McAdie, Colin (May 10, 2007). "Tropical Cyclone Climatology". National Hurricane Center. Archived from the original on May 28, 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2007.
4. "Atlantic hurricane best track (HURDAT version 2)" (Database). United States National Hurricane Center. May 25, 2020.
5. Associated Press (June 15, 1941). "Hurricane Bureau Begins Season's Vigil Tonight". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
6. Associated Press (June 15, 1959). "1959 Hurricane Season Opens Officially Today". Meridian Record. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
7. Associated Press (June 15, 1955). "Hurricane Season Opens; New England Joins Circuit". The Robesonian. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
8. Associated Press (June 15, 1960). "1960 Hurricane Season Open As Planes Prowl". The Evening Independent. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
9. Neal Dorst (January 21, 2010). "Subject: G1) When is hurricane season ?". National Hurricane Center. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
10. Brownsville Herald (June 1, 1965). Hurricane Season Officially Opened.
11. United Press International (May 30, 1966). "Hurricane Season Opens This Week". The News and Courier. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
12. National Hurricane Center (2011). "Atlantic Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
13. United States Department of Commerce (2006). Assessment: Hurricane Katrina, August 23–31, 2005. Retrieved on 2008-09-03.
14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved November 5, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
15. Christopher W. Landsea, Hurricane Research Division (May 8, 2010). "Subject: E11) How many tropical cyclones have there been each year in the Atlantic basin? What years were the greatest and fewest seen?". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
16. Christoper W. Landsea, Hurricane Research Division (March 26, 2014). "HURDAT Re-analysis Original vs. Revised HURDAT". NOAA. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
17. Hurricane Research Division (2008). "Chronological List of All Hurricanes which Affected the Continental United States: 1851-2007". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
18. Indianola, Texas
19. Dorst, Neal (October 23, 2012). "They Called the Wind Mahina: The History of Naming Cyclones" (PPTX). Hurricane Research Division, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. p. Slides 49–51.
20. Wang and Gillies (2011). "Observed Change in Sahel Rainfall, Circulations, African Easterly Waves, and Atlantic Hurricanes Since 1979". International Journal of Geophysics. 2011: 1–14. doi:10.1155/2011/259529.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)