A Hurricane Season Without Hurricanes, So Far

Every Atlantic hurricane season from 1915 through 2025 produced at least one hurricane by September 21, and most produced about four. This year has produced none. Tropical Storm Hanna, the season’s eighth named storm, formed this week far east of Bermuda and is expected to stay a tropical storm.

The map above shows every storm that reached hurricane strength by September 21 across those 111 seasons, 432 tracks in all, beside the 2026 Atlantic. This season has now gone longer without a hurricane than any since weather satellites began tracking storms in 1966. Unless something forms in the next two days, it will also be the first September without an Atlantic hurricane since 1994.

By total storm energy, a measure that combines strength and duration, 2026 is the quietest Atlantic season on record through late September going back to 1950. In 2004, that figure was more than 30 times higher by the same date.The cause lies in the Pacific. Waters off South America have run nearly 3°C above average, one of the strongest El Niño events on record. El Niño shifts atmospheric patterns in ways that make the Atlantic hostile to storm growth, and this year stable, dusty Saharan air added to the effect. The same pattern has fueled the Eastern Pacific, which tied the record for Category 5 hurricanes in a single season.

A quiet season is not a harmless one. Tropical Storm Arthur peaked at 45 mph in June, but its remnants dropped 29.06 inches of rain near Cottonport, Louisiana, in under 12 hours, a preliminary state record. More than 300 homes flooded in Avoyelles Parish, and losses topped $1 billion. In late July, Tropical Storm Bertha showed the other way a storm floods the coast. Bertha kept most of its rain offshore as it crept along the northern Gulf, but winds pushed water ashore. Bertha caused coastal flooding when it came ashore in Louisiana and closed parks and piers along the Gulf Coast. The damage was minor, but events like this one are being seen again and again by coastal communities.

Forecast models show no significant development for at least the next 10 days, but hurricane season runs through November 30. If it ends without a hurricane, 2026 will join 1907 and 1914 as the only such seasons on record. A slow start does not rule out a late-season storm, and this year has shown that flooding, from rain or from the sea, is often what reaches the harbor first. Check your harbor’s tide chart and our Monthly High Tide Flooding Outlook for upcoming high-tide flooding events. When a storm surge arrives on top of an already high tide, the impact can be severe.