Hurricane season ends, marked by calm August and deadly September

The six-month total of 14 named storms was about average. But two late-season hurricanes proved disastrous in Florida and Puerto Rico.

An erratic North Atlantic hurricane season comes to an end this week, with an average number of storms, a rare period of calm in August, and destructive activity late in the season, including the deadliest hurricane to hit the United States in nearly two decades.

The six-month season, which officially began June 1 and ends Wednesday, had 14 named storms, eight of which strengthened into hurricanes. Two of them, Fiona and Ian, were major hurricanes, with maximum sustained winds of at least 130 miles per hour.

Totals are in the average for a hurricane season. Some forecasters expected an above-average season, although most predicted numbers for 2022 would remain lower than 2021, which had 21 named storms, and well below 2020, which set a record with 31.

The total of 14 storms was at the bottom of forecasts by forecasters from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which said last August there could be 14 to 20 named storms, including six to 10 hurricanes and three to five major hurricanes.

"We were missing a major hurricane," said senior forecaster Matthew Rosencrans administration hurricanes. They were also mistaken in predicting that the combined intensity of the entire season's storms, a measure called accumulated cyclonic energy, would be higher than it actually was.

Mr. Rosencrans said in August that the presence of the climate pattern called La Niña, which is characterized by unusually cool water temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, could lead to greater hurricane activity. In the Atlantic, during a La Niña, there is often less wind shear, allowing tropical storms and hurricanes to strengthen.

But Mr Rosencrans said on Tuesday it looked like there was significant wind shear during the season and especially in August, when no storms fully formed. Normally, mid-August marks the start of the peak hurricane season, which lasts until mid-October.

Calm August" has been the real unforeseen surprise of the season," he said. . A lack of moisture at high altitudes in the tropical Atlantic where storms begin their development may also have played a role, he said.

Recent Hurricane seasons have been marked by the development of one or more storms before the official start of the season. But this year, for the first time since 2014, there was no storm before June 1.

For two months, the season progressed slowly, with only three named storms by the end of July. This is not unusual; ocean waters are cooler and provide less energy that fuels storms. Hurricane activity resumes after the summer sun warms the ocean.

After the lull in August, activity accelerated in September, with four hurricanes, including the two main ones.

In mid-September, Fiona hit Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm. dumped more than 30 inches of rain on parts of the island, killing at least 25 people and further damaging infrastructure that had yet to be fully repaired after being damaged by Hurricane Maria five years prior.

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Two weeks later, Ian, another Category 4 hurricane, hit Florida with winds reaching 150 mph. Along with rain and wind-driven tidal waves, it left at least 114 people dead, most in the southwest of the state. It was the deadliest storm in Florida in nearly a century, and the deadliest in the United States since Katrina killed more than 1,800 people in southern Louisiana in 2005.

The season was remarkable in several other ways. Two storms passed from the Atlantic basin to the Pacific, crossing Central America. The last time a storm did this was in 2016. "It's a pretty rare phenomenon," Rosencrans said.