The Atlantic Basin hurricane season officially ended Nov. 30. It was the third most active on record, with 21 tropical storms worthy of a name (wind speed of at least 39 mph), seven hurricanes (wind speed of at least 74 mph) and four major hurricanes (wind speed of at least 111 mph). The odd number thresholds are due to the conversion from the metric system.
Eight of the named storms this summer made landfall somewhere along the United States coastline, and this was the seventh consecutive season with at least one named storm prior to June 1. The National Hurricane Center attributes the high volume of tropical storms and the early start to the season to the ongoing warm phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, which contributes to warmer sea-surface temperatures, and also Global Warming.
