August’s Hurricane History - 2023
Bottom Line: If you're familiar with the Atlantic hurricane season, you're aware that we've just begun to enter the peak time of it. There’s plenty of good news as we wade into what’s historically the 2nd busiest month of hurricane season. There have been four named systems (and one unnamed subtropical storm in January) which is two more than at this time a year ago and is in line with the active 2021 hurricane season which produced a total of 21 named storms. The good news is that unlike the 2021 season, we’ve not had any storms pose a threat to the US as of yet. The still better news is that we’re entering the peak months of hurricane season with the strongest El Nino weather pattern we’ve had during hurricane season since 2015. Notably, there were no US landfalls during the 2015 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Let’s pray for a repeat. That said, as we know things can change quickly in the tropics, and on that note... Let’s look at how much of the traditional hurricane season is statistically behind us based on historical data.
Since tracking began in 1851:
- 14% of all tropical storms happened prior to August
- 10% of all hurricanes have formed prior to August
While a third of hurricane season is behind us based on dates on a calendar, about 90% of what’s historically happened is ahead of us. As we advance through the month, hopefully free from the threat of hurricanes, we'll enter peak hurricane season. The peak has historically been the final two weeks of August and first two weeks of September. For perspective, there have been more tropical storms and hurricanes in August, than the first seven months of the year combined.
Here's what we average:
- 2.4 tropical storms & 1.6 hurricanes (four named systems per year, half of which are hurricanes).
An average of one storm or hurricane makes landfall in the US every other year. So, here we go – right into the heart of season. Fingers crossed.