The Atlantic hurricane season's slow pace so far in 2022 has also led to a startling disparity in the number of mainland U.S. landfalls through mid-September compared to the last two years.

J​ust One So Far

is the only U.S. landfalling tropical system so far this season. It formed near the South Carolina coast and then dissipated just 24 hours later.

W​hat would become Alex tracked over Florida with heavy rain in June, but it was not classified as a tropical storm until after it had departed the peninsula.

Big Change Of Pace From 2021 And 2020

This week marks the anniversary of the eighth and seventh U.S. named storm landfalls in the 2021 and 2020 seasons, respectively.

Hurricane Nicholas became the final storm to strike in the season last year when it pushed into the Texas coast as a Category 1 on Sept. 14. Two years ago H​urricane Sally hammered southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle as a Category 2 on Sept. 16.

Put another way, more storms had struck the U.S. by mid-September in the last two years than the number of named storms that have formed in the Atlantic so far in 2022 ().

Tracks of landfalling named storms in the 2020 and 2021 seasons through Sept. 16.

L​ast Two Years Were Outliers

The last two years had more U.S. landfalls than what's typically expected in a given season. No more than five named storms had made landfall in a season in the previous 10 years (2010-2019) and three of those seasons had just one landfall each.

Even more jarring is the fact that Sally was already the fourth U.S. hurricane landfall of the 2020 season. is considered average for an entire season, according to NOAA's Hurricane Research Division.

M​ost Devastating Hurricanes Had Already Struck By Now

The most destructive hurricanes of the past two years had also already hit the United States b​y mid-September. Laura and Ida both struck Louisiana at Category 4 strength in late August, with the latter hurricane's remnants also contributing to a flood disaster in the Northeast.

B​ut don't let that fool you into complacency. The U.S. has a long history of pummelling hurricane strikes well into October. Zeta's Category 3 strike in late October 2020 is one such recent example.

Ida and Irma at landfall the past two years.

(NOAA/CIRA/RAMMB)

How Much Of The Season Is Left?

This year has brought a welcomed break for coastal residents following the 2020 and 2021 barrage.

There have been five named storms so far as of Sept. 12, including two that became hurricanes – Danielle and Earl. Before those two storms formed, the season had its least active start in 30 years, and a .

has historically produced another six named storms, including four hurricanes, two of which would reach at least Category 3 intensity.

W​here New Storms Track Matters Most

The most important statistic is how many of these named storms and hurricanes strike land as we head through the final months.

Development later in the season can happen closer to land in the western Caribbean Sea, southwestern Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. October 2018's devastating Category 5 was a stark recent example.

There's still a long way to go. In the past 10 years, the season's last storm fizzled as soon as Oct. 25 and as late as Dec. 7.

Now is the time to make sure you have a in case another storm threatens this season.

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