This year’s Atlantic hurricane season is now one of the 10 most active on record, with 14 named storms and eight hurricanes, five of which became major hurricanes—category 3 or stronger. And it doesn’t end until Nov. 30.


This year’s Atlantic hurricane season is now one of the 10 most active on record, with 14 named storms and eight hurricanes, five of which became major hurricanes—category 3 or stronger. And it doesn’t end until Nov. 30.
The Atlantic basin has seen eight consecutive storms develop into hurricanes for the first time in 124 years. The average number of hurricanes in an entire Atlantic season is six.
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Here are some of the records and historical distinctions for the 2017 season, so far:
Weather experts predicted the 2017 Atlantic season would have more named storms than usual because of a combination of a weak El Niño, above-average ocean-surface temperatures, and weaker vertical wind shear.
The pace of named storm formation has slowed since September. With 31 named storms for 2017, the year is lightly behind 2005, which saw 34 by this point in the Atlantic and Pacific basins. Still, 2017 is a very active season. There have been the same number of major hurricanes in the Atlantic as in 2005—Dennis, Emily, Katrina, Maria (same name) and Rita—and 2017 is pacing ahead of 2012 for named storms in both basins, the year that brought Hurricane Sandy, a superstorm, to the northeastern US in late October.
Here are details on every named Atlantic storm in 2017 so far: