Weather Tidbits: Tropical Frequency in the Atlantic

This edition of Weather Tidbits will be discussing the frequency of named tropical cyclones in the Atlantic at different times of the hurricane season. The data used for this analysis ranges from the years 1944 to 2020. Using this data, we can determine an approximate number of named storms per 100 years within different regions of the Atlantic in various months. In June, tropical development is mainly concentrated on the Caribbean and east coast with only about 10-29 named storms per 100 years. In July, the focus for development shifts more to the northern east coast with a peak of 30-49 named storms. By August, this greatly increases to 50-69 named storms per 100 years along the east coast. Activity greatly increases further east into the main development region of the Atlantic, where a peak of 70 named storms or greater is noted.

September is the most active with over 70 named storms from the main development region up though the western Atlantic. September is the climatological peak of the hurricane season. This decreases to 30-49 named storms along the eastern Caribbean through the central Atlantic in October with a very sharp decrease in activity in the main development region to 10-29 named storms. Very sporadic activity is noted in November. This marks the end of the hurricane season.