A closer look at the Atlantic’s quietest hurricane seasons

 

Hurricane Chris, August 1994 (Source: NOAA)

The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season has already set a new record for latest in the season without a hurricane. The old record for delayed first hurricane was September 11. A little more than two months are left before the season ends on November 30.

Since September is the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, tropical activity declines in October and November as conditions become less favorable for development. That said, this season could become the first in more than a hundred years without a single Atlantic hurricane. It’s estimated that no hurricanes developed during the 1907 and 1914 Atlantic hurricane seasons. However, those seasons occurred long before the satellite era began in the 1960s, so it’s possible a hurricane developed over the open ocean away from land or a nearby ship to detect it. 

What makes this season so potentially historic is that every hurricane season since the 1960s has featured at least one Atlantic hurricane. It remains possible that a hurricane will develop somewhere in the Atlantic before the end of the season. However, with only six short-lived tropical storms so far this season, the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season is well-positioned to finish as one of the quietest on record. Here are some of the other very quiet seasons since the 1980s.

1994: A total of only seven tropical storms developed this season with three that became hurricanes, but no major ones. What also stands out about this season is that two of the three hurricanes developed in November. The final month of the season, November is normally very quiet in the tropics.

1987: Another calm season with seven tropical storms, of which three became hurricanes. None made landfall in the United States. The strongest storm of the season was Category 3 Hurricane Emily.

1983: Similar to 2026, this season occurred during another very strong episode of El Nino and saw only four tropical storms with three hurricanes and one major hurricane. The major hurricane was “Alicia.” A Category 3 storm, Alicia developed off the Texas Gulf Coast where it made landfall. A “major” hurricane is defined as a Category 3 or greater on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale with sustained winds of at least 111 mph around the storm’s center.

1982: Only six tropical storms developed during this season as well. Two intensified into hurricanes for lowest seasonal total of Atlantic hurricanes in the satellite era. The strongest storm was Hurricane Debby that reached Category 4 intensity over the north Atlantic Ocean.