Atlantic Hurricane Season Off to a Fast Start

Tropical Storm Danielle in 2016  (Source: NASA)

2016 has already been a record setting hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean.  Earlier this week, Tropical Storm Danielle developed and that set a new record for earliest in the season that a fourth named storm developed.

It’s common for a few short-lived and relatively weak tropical storms to develop in late May, June and early July.  However, a combination of rare events have conspired to make 2016 an unusual year thus far.  Although four tropical storms have already been named in the Atlantic this year, there has only been one hurricane, Alex.  Tropical Storms Bonnie and Colin were both relatively weak tropical storms that brought prolific amounts of rain to the United States.  Fortunately, they didn’t linger and didn’t cause significant flooding as some past June storms have done.

Earlier this week, the National Hurricane Center identified and tracked Tropical Storm Danielle as it made landfall in Mexico.  Distinguished scientist, Dr. Philip Klotzbach, of Colorado State University determined Danielle became the earliest fourth named storm on record in the Atlantic Ocean when it was named on June 20.  That beat the old record that Tropical Storm Debby set just four years ago.  2012 was also the last busier than average hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean.

Although there has been a flurry of activity in the tropical Atlantic so far in 2016, there has also been an ongoing hurricane drought.  Since 2013, there have been only four major hurricanes – Category 3 of higher with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater – in the Atlantic Ocean.  The 30-year average for major hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean over the course of a season is approximately three.  The last time there were three consecutive Atlantic hurricane seasons with a below average number of major hurricanes was from 1992 – 1994 – when a total of just 2 developed.  However, one of those two major hurricanes was Hurricane Andrew in 1992, a notorious Category 5 hurricane.

Besides fewer major hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean over the last few years, no major hurricane has made landfall in the United States since 2005.  That’s the longest such streak on record.  It’s important to note that whether or not the season is busier than average, high impact storms can occur during below average seasons – such as Andrew in 1992.  The next tropical storm to develop in the Atlantic Ocean this season will be named “Earl.”