What is the average hurricane season

Based on a year climate period from to , an average Atlantic hurricane season has 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes Category 3, 4, or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

The first named storm typically forms in mid to late June, the first hurricane tends to form in early to mid-August, and the first major hurricane forms in late August or early September. The eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 to November Based on a year climate period from to , an average eastern Pacific hurricane season has 15 named storms, 8 hurricanes, and 4 major hurricanes.

The first named storm typically forms in early to mid-June, the first hurricane tends to form in late June, and the first major hurricane forms in mid-July.

The following tables describe the progress of typical hurricane seasons in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific basins by showing benchmark dates when a given number of named storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes typically forms. It is important to note, however, that formation dates in individual hurricane seasons could vary considerably from these average dates.

Table 1. Progress of the average Atlantic season Date upon which the following number of events would normally have occurred. Table 2. Progress of the average eastern Pacific season These charts show the amount of tropical cyclone activity, in terms of named storms and hurricanes, that occurs in the Atlantic and east Pacific basins on each calendar day between May 1 and December Specifically, they show the number of hurricanes yellow area , and combined named storms and hurricanes red area that occur on each calendar day over a year period.

The data have been smoothed using a 5-day running average centered on each calendar day. For the Atlantic basin the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico , the chart is based on data from the year period from to starting at the beginning of the aircraft reconnaissance era but normalized to years.

The official hurricane season for the Atlantic basin is from June 1 to November 30, but tropical cyclone activity sometimes occurs before and after these dates, respectively. The peak of the Atlantic hurricane season is September 10, with most activity occurring between mid-August and mid-October.

For the eastern Pacific basin, the analyses are based on data from the year period from to starting when there was reliable satellite imagery but also normalized to years. The official hurricane season for the eastern Pacific basin is from May 15 to November 30, but tropical cyclones occasionally occur before and after these dates, respectively. A peak in activity is noted in late August, but this peak is less pronounced than the peak in Atlantic activity. Relatively high levels of activity in the eastern Pacific tend to be spread out over a longer portion of the season than in the Atlantic, with most tropical cyclones occurring between late June and early October.

This further delayed the repairs and left Louisiana shelters at full capacity as people are unable to return home to places without electricity. Hurricane Ida Even before it became a Tropical Depression, Ida caused significant flooding in Venezuela leading to at least 20 deaths and 1, homes being destroyed. Tropical Depression 9 formed southwest of Jamaica on Aug. It caused some damage in Cuba, largely damaged roofs, downed wires and downed trees.

The storm continued to move north across Cuba before entering the Gulf of Mexico late that night. As it moved north through the Gulf of Mexico, it gathered strength and began to slow down as it approached the continental U.

Within the U. After landfall, it slowed down and stalled over southern Louisiana, dropping large amounts of rain and bringing heavy winds along with extremely high tides. More than 1. Members of the National Guard deployed to Louisiana alongside rescue and recovery personnel working on getting critical infrastructure back up and running.

Some of the hardest-hit areas are in and around the town of Port Fourchon , which took a direct hit from Ida as a Category 4 storm. The parishes of Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. James, St. Charles, St. Tammany, St. With supply chains suffering already because of COVID, it is expected that the impact on supply chain from Ida — both delays and cost increases — will be worse than even Katrina.

In Louisiana, 26 people died because of Ida. Many of these deaths were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning , or because of improper evacuations of nursing homes. Several of the deaths are related to the high temperatures caused by the loss of power. After moving through Louisiana, Ida continued to move up through Mississippi, where its remnants brought heavy rain that washed out a highway , killing two people and injuring ten.

As Ida moved north along the east coast, its heavy rains caught many people off-guard, leading to almost four dozen deaths including 29 in New Jersey , 18 in New York, two in Pennsylvania , and at least one each in Virginia , Maryland and Connecticut.

Two electrical workers were killed after the storm in Alabama while repairing damaged power lines. New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency as rescuers struggled to reach those who needed help. Pictures and videos posted on social media showed torrents of water pouring into underground spaces in New York City, including the subway system where people were trapped as water flowed down stairs into some stations.

One of the worst-hit areas was Manville, New Jersey, where firefighters could not get to multiple structure fires because of flooded roads. Heavy rains soaked the Maritime provinces in Canada as Ida moved north, also bringing heavy winds to the areas. By the next morning, it had officially become Tropical Storm Grace and warnings were issued for most of the islands in the Caribbean.

The storm moved along the south shore of Haiti and made a direct hit to the regions that were devastated by an M7. The impact of Tropical Storm Grace on Haiti will be hard to determine, but the devastation caused by the earthquake means that many people were left without shelter before the storm arrived.

There will undoubtedly be more deaths than would have otherwise occurred as Grace hampered rescue and relief efforts from the earthquake. After striking Haiti, Grace moved back out over the Caribbean and gathered strength to become a hurricane before making a second landfall over the Yucatan Peninsula early in the morning of Aug.

The system continued almost due west, passing across the Gulf of Mexico where it strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane before making landfall on mainland Mexico around 1 a. This landfall caused severe flooding in the state of Veracruz where seven people died in the capital, Xalapa — six of whom were from the same family. An eighth person died in the nearby town of Poza Rica when they were trapped under a collapsed roof.

The updated seasonal outlook predicts that 15 to 21 named storms of 39 mph 63 kph or greater will form, of which seven to 10 may become hurricanes with wind speeds of 74 mph kph or greater.

NOAA also expects this season three to five major hurricanes — hurricanes whose top winds reach mph kph or greater. An average hurricane season has 12 named storms, six hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

The hurricane season was the busiest on record, producing 30 named storms, including 14 hurricanes and seven major hurricanes. A record-breaking 12 storms, six of which were hurricanes, hit the U. Though the past few weeks have seen a lull in Atlantic storm activity, the beginning of the season started off aggressively, with Tropical Storm Elsa becoming the earliest fifth-named storm on record when it formed on July 1.

Elsa killed one Florida resident, injured several people in Georgia, and damaged vehicles and buildings in several states. Drawing from 50 years of data, NOAA has found that early-season storm activity is not an indicator of the overall season, since most Atlantic storms form during the peak months of August, September and October.