The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is among the 10 most active seasons since 1966.This ranking is based on a measurement called the ACE index.The index takes into account the number, strength and duration of storms.
The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is now among the 10 most active seasons in more than five decades following Hurricane Iota's intensification into a Category 5 earlier this week.
Since satellite detection began in the mid-1960s, Atlantic hurricane seasons have had as many as 30 named storms (2020) and as few as four (1983). Various factors in the atmosphere and oceantypically drive whether a given hurricane season is busy or relatively tame.
But ranking the most extreme hurricane seasons isn't as simple as examining the number of tropical storms and hurricanes that occurred in a given year. We need to dig a little deeper to capture the full picture.
Another way to compare hurricane seasons is by using theACE(Accumulated Cyclone Energy) index, which takes into account not just the number, but also the intensity and longevity of storms and hurricanes. A season's ACE value doesn't necessarily reflect the severity of impacts to land in a given year.
As of Nov. 18, the ACE for the 2020 hurricane season ranks sixth-highest among all years dating to 1966. Hurricane Iota's extreme intensity earlier this week helped vault 2020 to that ranking. This year's ACE is 170% of the average for an entire hurricane season.
The ACE (Accumulated Cyclone Energy) index takes into account not just the number, but also the intensity and longevity of storms and hurricanes.
Below is a closer look at the10 most extreme hurricaneseasons. We've only included Atlantic hurricane seasons in the satellite era, which began in 1966, in order to have the most reliable information.
ACE index: 165.718 named storms, 12 hurricanes, 5 major hurricanes92.25 named storm days, 40.25 hurricane days, 6.5 major hurricane days
Camille is the most well-known hurricane from the 1969season. It reached Category 5 status in the Gulf of Mexico before slamming into the Mississippi coast with .
Another boost to the 1969 season's extreme nature was Inga,. It still holds the record as the third-longest-lived tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Basin.
A ship carried by Camille's storm surge rests alongside a home in Biloxi, Mississippi.
(NOAA)
ACE index: 166.213 named storms, 9 hurricanes, 6 major hurricanes79 named storm days, 45 hurricane days, 13 major hurricane days
Almost half of the 13 named storms in the 1996 season went on to become major hurricanes, vaulting the year to a tie as the eighth-most-extreme season in the satellite era.
Edouard was a major hurricane for an , butthat occurred well away from land in the open Atlantic Ocean.
North Carolina was struck by Hurricane Fran during the season; it was a when it roared ashore near Cape Fear.
ACE index: 176.316 named storms, 7 hurricanes, 3 major hurricanes81.5 named storm days, 32.75 hurricane days, 16.75 major hurricane days
Two of the three major hurricanes in the 2003 season heldCategory 3 or stronger intensity for a lengthy period of time. That contributed to 16.75 major hurricane days, fourth-most of any season on this list.
, maxing out as a Category 5 for a total of 1.75 days during that time.Eastern parts of North Carolina and Virginia were pounded by Isabel, which made landfall as a Category 2.
Fabian was the other long-lived major hurricane of the 2003 season and curled through the Atlantic as a Category 3 or stronger for seven days. , which passed very close to the archipelago as a Category 3.
Satellite image of Hurricane Isabel on Sept. 13, 2003, when it was strengthening back to Category 5 status. Several pinwheel-shaped features can be seen spinning inside the eye.
ACE index: 176.512 named storms, 8hurricanes, 5 major hurricanes78.5 named storm days, 41 hurricane days, 14.25 major hurricane days
The 1999 season featured a near-average number of named storms, but a large proportion of those reached hurricane and major hurricane strength.
All five of the major hurricanes in the 1999 season – Bret, Cindy, Floyd, Gert and Lenny – reached strength.
Floyd first struck the Bahamas and thencaused a deadly flood disaster in the eastern United States.
because it moved west-to-east in the Caribbean in November – the reverse direction of how storms usually track in that portion of the Atlantic Basin.
ACE index: 179.930 named storms, 13hurricanes, 6 major hurricanes118.25 named storm days, 34.75 hurricane days, 8.75 major hurricane days
The 2020 hurricane season's lofty ranking is partially because it's had the most named storms of any season on record.
However, many of those storms have been short-lived or weak, especially early in the season.
What's really pushed this season into the top 10 are the seven hurricanes that produced double-digit ACE later in the season, beginning with Laura in late August and ending with Iota in mid-November.
An unusually active October and November gave this season its biggest boost. Those final two months have accounted for nearly 42% of the entire 2020 hurricane season's ACE.
Although it's not a factor in the ACE index calculation, the 2020 hurricane season will also be remembered for how much the U.S. was impacted. A record-breaking 12 named storms, including six hurricanes, have made landfall in the U.S. this season.
Track of landfalling named storms in the U.S. in 2020. Shaded red and purple are parts of the U.S. coast that were under a hurricane and/or tropical storm warning at some point in the season. Only a portion of the Florida Big Bend avoided warnings this year.
ACE index: 181.814 named storms, 10 hurricanes, 3 major hurricanes88 named storm days, 48.5 hurricane days, 9.5 major hurricane days
Forty-eight-and-a-half hurricane days occurred in the 1998 season, the fourth-most of any year in the top 10.
Hurricane Mitch was the most powerful hurricane of 1998, maxing out at Category 5 strength off the coast of Honduras. that resulted in thousands of fatalities.
Bonnie and Georges are the two other hurricanes that had significant impacts in 1998.
that moved from the Atlantic to the Caribbean and eventually to the U.S. Gulf Coast, making seven landfalls along the way. The hurricane killed 602 people, mostly in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
in a three-year span to directly impact North Carolina.
Flood damage along the Choluteca River caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
(NOAA)
ACE index: 224.917named storms, 10 hurricanes, 6major hurricanes93 named storm days, 51.75 hurricane days, 19.25 major hurricane days
The 2017 season will long be remembered as one of the busiest and most destructive Atlantic hurricane seasons on record.
Its 51.75 hurricane days is the second most of any year in the satellite era. 2017 also ranks second with its 19.25 major hurricane days, behind only the 2004 season's 22.25 major hurricane days.
Three Category 4 hurricanes – , and – made landfall in the United States following 12 years without a major hurricane (Category 3 or stronger) landfallin the country. Puerto Rico was nearly made uninhabitable by ,andtwo locations in southeastern Texas received more than 60 inches of rainfrom , a new
Hurricanes , and combined to produce over a quarter-trillion dollars in damage in the U.S.
was the longest-lived hurricane on record in the Atlantic Basin since the beginning of the satellite era in 1966, maintaining that intensity for a , according to Klotzbach.
Satellite imagery of Harvey, Irma and Maria at the point of their Category 4 landfalls.
ACE index: 226.915 named storms, 9 hurricanes, 6 major hurricanes93 named storm days, 45.5 hurricane days, 22.25 major hurricane days
The 2014 season's high ranking is because it has the most major hurricane days (22.25) of any season in the satellite era.
Chief among those was Hurricane Ivan, which is tied with Hurricane Allen (1980) for the second-longest duration as a Category 5 – three days – in the Atlantic Basin, trailing only (2017) at . Ivan left a trail of destruction from the Caribbean to the southeastern United Statesand was a major hurricane throughout that time.
Charley and Jeanne were both major hurricanes when they struck Florida in 2004. Frances was a major hurricane for more than six days in the Atlantic before it made landfall along Florida's eastern coast as a Category 2.
A zoomed-in view of Hurricane Ivan's eye taken from the International Space Station as the powerful hurricane approached the Alabama and Florida Panhandle coasts on Sept. 15, 2004.
ACE index: 227.119 named storms, 11 hurricanes, 5 major hurricanes121.25 named storm days, 61.5 hurricane days, 11.5 major hurricanes
1995 kicked off the so-called "active era" for the Atlantic Basin that has continued well into the 21st century. Its 61.5 hurricane days is the most of any year in the satellite era.
The most long-lived major hurricane of 1995 was Luis, which was or stronger for eight consecutive daysin early September and maxed out as a .
Opal reached strength in the Gulf of Mexico in October and eventually made landfall as a along the Florida Panhandle.
ACE index: 245.328 named storms, 15 hurricanes, 7 major hurricanes126.25 named storm days, 49.75 hurricane days, 17.5 major hurricane days
It should come as no surprise that the hyperactive 2005 season isthe most extreme in the satellite era. Twenty-eight storms accounted for an ACE of 245.3 and 126.5 named storm days, the most in bothcategories forany year in the satellite era.
2005 also had the most major hurricanes in a season during the satellite era – seven. A record four hurricanes reached status in the 2005 season, including Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
Tracks of the 28 storms in the 2005 season.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, .
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