The record-breaking 2020 Atlantic hurricane season officially ended on 30th November. But as it happened in the past, even after the notified dates from 01st June to 30th November for the season, the storms may continue to develop in December and till mid-January. The year 2020 saw record-breaking 30 storms with multiple hurricanes striking across the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and east coast of The United States. 10 of these storms formed in September itself. Season 2020 is the most storm, on record, surpassing the 28 storms in 2005 and the 2nd highest number of hurricanes on record.
The season 2020 got off to an early and quick pace with a record of named storms. The Atlantic list of 21 names got exhausted nearly halfway through the season when tropical storm Wilfred formed on 18th Sep 2020. As is normally done, for only the second time in history, the Greek Alphabets were used for the remainder of the season, extending through the 9th name in the list, ‘IOTA’. An average season has 12 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes.
There were 12 landfalling storms in the continental United States this season, 5 of which came ashore in Louisiana. The first storm was Arthur and the last so far Wilfred. Out of 30 named storms, 13 became hurricanes with a top wind speed of 120 kmph or more and 6 major hurricanes with winds in excess of 180 kmph. Hurricane IOTA has been the last storm so far and it intensified to Cat 5 hurricane and this happened to be season’s 1st Cat-5 storm. It made landfall along the coast of Nicaragua, near the town of Haulover.
This is the 5th consecutive year with an above-normal Atlantic season, with 18 above-normal seasons out of past 26. The increase in the frequency of hurricanes and their intensity is attributed to rising sea surface temperature and changed steering winds that drive the hurricanes. This also coincides with the warm phase of the Atlantic Multi Decadal Oscillation (AMO), which began in 1995 and has favoured more intense and enduring storms. The 2021 hurricane season will officially begin on June 1. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) issues the seasonal outlook and is likely to be delivered in May 2021.
