FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WFFT) — As predicted, the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was extremely active.
There were a record-breaking 30 named storms and 12 landfalling storms in the continental United States.
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This surpasses the 2005 record of 28 named storms in a season.
The official end to the Atlantic hurricane season is November 30, but tropical storms can form beyond this date.
That was certainly the case in 2005 when Tropical Storm Zeta was named on December 30.
In a publication released by NOAA on November 24, 2020 it states that “NOAA’s seasonal hurricane outlooks accurately predicted a high likelihood of an above-normal season with a strong possibility of it being extremely active.”
“Throughout this relentless hurricane season, NOAA worked around-the-clock to provide critical data and reliable forecasts to our Nation’s communities in the path of devastating storms,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.
It was a quick start to the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season which runs from June 1 to November 30.
Tropical Storm Aruthur and Tropical Storm Bertha both formed in May before the hurricane season even started.
Arthur began the 6th consecutive year with a named storm before the official start of hurricane season.
By July, there were nine named storms with nearly each one breaking a record for earliest named storm.
By September 18, Tropical Storm Wilfred formed which was the last name on the 21-name Atlantic list.
Atlantic #HurricaneSeason 2020: #Climate factors that influenced the record-breaking season include ongoing La Nina + warmer-than-avg sea surface temps & weaker wind shear in Atlantic
More at: https://t.co/lAwwLGbHWm @NWS @NWSCPC pic.twitter.com/0cB48LSaD4
— NOAA (@NOAA) November 24, 2020
After all names were exhausted, for the second time in history, the Greek alphabet was used to name storms.
2005 was the last time the Greek alphabet was used.
So far in 2020, there have been nine named storms from the Greek alphabet with the latest one being named Iota.
According to the NOAA publication, 2020 is the fifth consecutive year with an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season, with 18 above-normal seasons out of the past 26.
Here's how 2020 Atlantic #hurricane season ranks so far with other seasons in satellite era (since 1966) and with long-term average. Record-setting for named storms, 2nd for hurricanes & major hurricanes, 3rd for named storm days, 6th for Accumulated Cyclone Energy. #Iota pic.twitter.com/cjBlIIz5JP
— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) November 17, 2020
The publication states, “the increased hurricane activity is attributed to the warm phase of the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation (AMO)- which began in 1995 - and has favored more, stronger, and lower- lasting storms since that time.”
A typical hurricane season contains 12 named storms, six hurricanes and three major hurricanes which is a Category 3 or greater.
The active hurricane season was the product of very warm water in the Atlantic, a strong west African monsoon season, weak wind shear, strong wind patterns coming off Africa combined with a La Nina year.
Just in: For #TimelapseTuesday, here's the record-breaking 2020 Atlantic #hurricane season from @NOAA's #GOESEast ��️.
The season had 30 named storms—from #Arthur to #Iota— five of which hit Louisiana. It was also the record fifth consecutive above-normal season. pic.twitter.com/qbTFkqqlWW
— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) November 24, 2020
2020 goes down as the year with a record-breaking pace, most named storms, most storms that rapidly intensified, most landfalling storms for the continental United States and the year of most named storms to make landfall in Louisiana.
