2005 Atlantic hurricane seasonThe 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a record-breaking, catastrophic, and deadly Atlantic hurricane season. It is the second-costliest hurricane season, just behind the 2017 season. It featured 28 tropical and subtropical storms, which was previously the most recorded in a hurricane season until the 2020 season.
2023 Atlantic hurricane seasonThe 2023 Atlantic hurricane season was the fourth-most active Atlantic hurricane season on record with 20 named storms forming, tied with 1933. Among them, 7 became hurricanes, with 3 reaching major hurricane strength.
1980 Atlantic hurricane seasonThe 1980 Atlantic hurricane season featured nine hurricanes, the most since 1969. This hurricane season was fairly active, with sixteen tropical cyclones forming, eleven of which strengthened into named tropical storms. The season officially began on June 1, 1980, and lasted until November 30, 1980. It was the first time since the 1971 season that there were no active tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin during the month of June.
Hurricane MelissaCategory 5 Atlantic hurricane in 2025Hurricane Melissa was an extremely powerful tropical cyclone that made a catastrophic landfall in Jamaica in late October 2025. By maximum sustained winds, it is tied with Hurricane Allen as the strongest Atlantic hurricane, and with Hurricane Dorian and the 1935 Labor Day hurricane as the strongest landfalling Atlantic hurricane. Allen and Melissa are the only Atlantic hurricanes to attain maximum sustained winds of 190 mph (305 km/h).
Hurricane AllenHurricane Allen was the most powerful Atlantic hurricane by wind speed on record, tied with Hurricane Melissa of 2025. The second tropical depression and first named storm of the 1980 Atlantic hurricane season, Allen was also the seventh most intense Atlantic hurricane on record in terms of barometric pressure.
1851 Atlantic hurricane seasonThe 1851 Atlantic hurricane season was the first Atlantic hurricane season to be included in the official Atlantic tropical cyclone record. Six known tropical cyclones occurred during the season, three of which intensified into a hurricane, while one of those became a major hurricane. The earliest known storm formed by June 25 and the latest of which dissipated by October 19.
Atlantic hurricane reanalysis projectThe Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration seeks to correct and add new information about past North Atlantic hurricanes. It was started around 2000 to update HURDAT, the official hurricane database for the Atlantic Basin, which has become outdated since its creation due to various systematic errors introduced into the database over time.
Hurricane WilmaHurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin and the second-most intense tropical cyclone in the Western Hemisphere, both based on barometric pressure, after Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Wilma's rapid intensification led to a 24-hour pressure drop of 97 mbar (2.9 inHg), setting a new basin record. At its peak, Hurricane Wilma's eye contracted to a record minimum diameter of 2.3 mi (3.7 km).
Atlantic hurricane seasonThe Atlantic hurricane season is the period in a year, from June 1 to November 30, when tropical or subtropical cyclones are most likely to form in the North Atlantic Ocean. These dates, adopted by convention, encompass the period in each year when most tropical cyclogenesis occurs in the basin. Even so, subtropical or tropical cyclogenesis is possible at any time of the year, and often does occur.
List of off-season Atlantic hurricanesAn off-season Atlantic hurricane is a tropical or subtropical cyclone that existed in the Atlantic basin outside of the official Atlantic hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration currently defines the season as occurring between June 1 and November 30 each calendar year, which is when 97% of all Atlantic tropical cyclones occur. Peak activity is known to be between August and October.
Tropical cycloneRapidly rotating storm systemHurricane Florence viewed from the International Space Station in 2018. The eye, eyewall, and surrounding rainbands are characteristics of tropical cyclones.A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls.
Saffir–Simpson scaleThe Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS) is a tropical cyclone intensity scale that classifies hurricanes—which in the Western Hemisphere are tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms—into five categories distinguished by the intensities of their sustained winds. This measuring system was formerly known as the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale, or SSHS.
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about 85,133,000 square kilometers (32,870,000 sq mi). It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for separating the New World of the Americas (North America and South America) from the Old World of Afro-Eurasia (Africa, Asia, and Europe).*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.