Atlantic hurricane season reaches historic milestone
Descrição
The climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season is Sept. 10, bringing us to the doorstep of the latest hurricane start on record in the modern satellite era.
Historically, our busiest weeks ramp up in mid-August and run through October. By this point in the season, the historical average is eight tropical storms and four hurricanes. Instead, as we reach the peak, the Atlantic remains remarkably quiet.
While our first Atlantic hurricane usually arrives by Aug. 11, we are sitting far past that historical marker without a single hurricane recorded. The basin has produced only five named storms so far: Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, and Edouard. Not a single storm has crossed the threshold to become an official hurricane.
Bertha and Edouard were the strongest tropical storms with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, well short of the 74 mph criteria needed to reach hurricane status.
A strong El Niño is the primary driver behind this prolonged quiet stretch. El Niño is typically associated with reduced tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic Basin and increased storm activity in the Eastern and Central Pacific basins.
El Niño pumps hostile vertical wind shear straight across the Main Development Region. High shear combines dry Saharan air and low atmospheric instability. Tropical waves moving off the coast of Africa get choked out before they can organize.
We are standing on the doorstep of history.
Within the modern satellite era dating back to 1966, the record for the latest first hurricane belongs to Sept. 11. Hurricane Gustav set that benchmark in 2002 during an El Niño pattern, and Hurricane Humberto matched it in 2013 during a neutral pattern.
If the basin remains without a hurricane past Friday, 2026 will officially set the record for the latest first hurricane of the season ever tracked in this era...if one forms at all.
Looking ahead, the National Hurricane Center seven-day outlook shows zero tropical development expected over the next seven days.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.
#weather #hurricane #atlantic
MORE: https://wlos.com/news/local/atlantic-hurricane-season-record-latest-first-hurricane-modern-era-satellite-weather-storms-tropical-oceans-winds-el-nino-arthur-bertha-cristobal-dolly-edouard?teaserSource=trending
_______________
Follow WLOS on social media:
WLOS ABC 13 News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/News13/
WLOS ABC 13 News on X: https://x.com/WLOS_13
WLOS ABC 13 News on Instagram: https://instagram.com/wlos_13
Subscribe to WLOS on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ABC13Channel/?sub_confirmation=1
For all of the day’s top local and national news, visit www.wlos.com
Stream our newscasts LIVE: www.wlos.com/watch
Have a news tip? Send it directly to us:
Email us: [email protected]
Call the Newsroom: 828.684.1340
--
WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954.
This video and all Sinclair Broadcast Group content archives of local news and sports coverage are available for your use. For more information contact us at [email protected]
Historically, our busiest weeks ramp up in mid-August and run through October. By this point in the season, the historical average is eight tropical storms and four hurricanes. Instead, as we reach the peak, the Atlantic remains remarkably quiet.
While our first Atlantic hurricane usually arrives by Aug. 11, we are sitting far past that historical marker without a single hurricane recorded. The basin has produced only five named storms so far: Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, and Edouard. Not a single storm has crossed the threshold to become an official hurricane.
Bertha and Edouard were the strongest tropical storms with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, well short of the 74 mph criteria needed to reach hurricane status.
A strong El Niño is the primary driver behind this prolonged quiet stretch. El Niño is typically associated with reduced tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic Basin and increased storm activity in the Eastern and Central Pacific basins.
El Niño pumps hostile vertical wind shear straight across the Main Development Region. High shear combines dry Saharan air and low atmospheric instability. Tropical waves moving off the coast of Africa get choked out before they can organize.
We are standing on the doorstep of history.
Within the modern satellite era dating back to 1966, the record for the latest first hurricane belongs to Sept. 11. Hurricane Gustav set that benchmark in 2002 during an El Niño pattern, and Hurricane Humberto matched it in 2013 during a neutral pattern.
If the basin remains without a hurricane past Friday, 2026 will officially set the record for the latest first hurricane of the season ever tracked in this era...if one forms at all.
Looking ahead, the National Hurricane Center seven-day outlook shows zero tropical development expected over the next seven days.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.
#weather #hurricane #atlantic
MORE: https://wlos.com/news/local/atlantic-hurricane-season-record-latest-first-hurricane-modern-era-satellite-weather-storms-tropical-oceans-winds-el-nino-arthur-bertha-cristobal-dolly-edouard?teaserSource=trending
_______________
Follow WLOS on social media:
WLOS ABC 13 News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/News13/
WLOS ABC 13 News on X: https://x.com/WLOS_13
WLOS ABC 13 News on Instagram: https://instagram.com/wlos_13
Subscribe to WLOS on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ABC13Channel/?sub_confirmation=1
For all of the day’s top local and national news, visit www.wlos.com
Stream our newscasts LIVE: www.wlos.com/watch
Have a news tip? Send it directly to us:
Email us: [email protected]
Call the Newsroom: 828.684.1340
--
WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954.
This video and all Sinclair Broadcast Group content archives of local news and sports coverage are available for your use. For more information contact us at [email protected]
Palavra-chave: meteorologia beira ciclone
Comentários da comunidade
@timk5028 YouTube · 12/09/2026 · 👍 5
When the news cycle needs a narrative shift, there will be a bad one.
@jfalbo YouTube · 13/09/2026 · 👍 1
This means insurance companies are going to give us a break, right?
@Benito-KMelas YouTube · 14/09/2026
Doesn't a strong El Niño historically limits hurricane development?
@codybanks9944 YouTube · 13/09/2026
Interesting how the unusually large and dense Sahara Dust Cloud this year is not even mentioned in this. It is DEFINITELY affecting the development of Storms off the Coast of Africa.
@topicbaseball YouTube · 15/09/2026
We had a historically cold and dry winter in the mid atlantic specifically but it affected the entire Atlantic coast. As a result the water temps are cooler than they typically are by this time and I think that’s partially why the atlantic hurricane season has been quiet. If we get any tropical activity in the U.S. in 2026 it’s going to be from the gulf of Mexico, not the atlantic.
@gueswhosthis YouTube · 13/09/2026
Newsflash: Disaster recovery companies are hiring like crazy rn, all of this heat at the equator will need to climb up at some point in November. We're not out of the water yet
@WeWrestleNotAgainstFlesh YouTube · 13/09/2026
🎉🎉🎉🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
@EricJordanwyatte YouTube · 13/09/2026
We gonna get that one cat 10 to fix all that quietness
@brians7915 YouTube · 13/09/2026
Becauze the waters are reciding first.
@rodricknetter5227 YouTube · 13/09/2026 · 👍 1
Oh wow, the insurance companies they are really mad because if they had another hurricane come through Florida, they was going to increase their rates and after two came through Georgia around the city of Valdosta. They were going to raise the race and that has never been done city that’s not on the coastline, but hey, I know damn thing. I’m just a black guy from South Georgia.🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️