For the first time in recent history, an NC hurricane season without any (yet)

For the first time in modern history, a hurricane has yet to form in the Atlantic Ocean before the peak of the hurricane season.

Thursday, Sept. 10, is the climatological peak of the hurricane season, which begins June 1 and continues through Nov. 30, and while five tropical storms have formed so far this season there have been no hurricanes in the Atlantic.

September is usually the busiest month of the hurricane season.

“The possibility that the Atlantic could go through its entire busiest month without a hurricane is what makes this season truly exceptional,” said Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather lead hurricane expert, in a news release. “Powerful El Niño conditions continue to generate disruptive wind shear across the basin, and we do not see a meaningful change in that pattern through the end of September.”

A potential record strong El Niño, which warms up a portion of the Pacific Ocean and normally brings wetter winters to North Carolina, is one of the primary contributors to the weak hurricane season.

There are no tropical cyclones forecasted in the Atlantic over the next seven day as of midday Thursday, Sept. 10, according to the National Hurricane Center.

And long-term tropical storm outlooks don’t show potential storm formation until the end of September, said Jonathan Blaes, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service’s Raleigh office.

“We’re only at the midpoint, but it is unusual for sure for many folks,” he said. “That sounds like great news because no one wants to deal with hurricanes and all the havoc, they seem to cause especially in our part of the world. But one thing to keep in mind is the hurricanes, tropical storms or their remnants are often responsible for 10-15% of the annual rainfall in North Carolina.”

Universities and the National Weather Service forecasted a below-normal hurricane season with seven to 13 named storms, two to six hurricanes and zero to two major hurricanes, which is a Category 3, 4 and 5. A typical hurricane season has 14 named storms.

There have only been two seasons with no recorded hurricane, in 1907 and 1914, and none since 1966, when satellite improved the tracking and forecasting of hurricane seasons. However, Blaes stressed that there was still time left in the season and even one hurricane can cause massive damage.

“So many of the fatalities that we experience in North Carolina associated with hurricane are not from wind and surge of salt water and flooding us out,” he said. “It’s from people driving through the flooded roadways days after the hurricane, drowning in fresh water.”

Tropical Storm Edouard, which made landfall in Texas, resulted in flooding and 2 feet of flooding rain, according to The Weather Channel.

But while the Atlantic Ocean has been less active, there have been more tropical storms in the Pacific.

“We’ve had multiple hurricanes threaten or even impact Hawaii, which is unusual,” Blaes said. “So our quiet year in the Atlantic has certainly set the stage for a much more active eastern Pacific storm, and some storms that are occurring in places that typically don’t think about them or have to worry about them too much.”

This story was originally published September 10, 2026 at 3:37 PM with the headline “For the first time in recent history, an NC hurricane season without any (yet).”