By admin 
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season has been slow, with significantly below-average tropical cyclone development. During a typical hurricane season, through September 11, there would already be eight named storms, with at least three becoming hurricanes — and at least one major hurricane.
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This season we’ve had five named storms, but none have reached hurricane status. This makes 2026 on track to have the latest first hurricane on record in the modern satellite-tracking era.
What’s called the satellite era began in the 1960s when weather satellites were launched into Earth’s orbit, allowing meteorologists to see more of the world’s weather than ever before.
The latest hurricanes to form in the Atlantic during the satellite era were Hurricane Gustav in 2002 and Hurricane Humberto in 2013, both on September 11.
This year is now on track to have the latest first hurricane, because as of September 11 of this year, we have no tropical storms or hurricanes, with nothing expected to develop within the next week, according to the National Hurricane Center.
While below-average activity is expected (and was forecast) for this season, it would be unusual for a season to go without a hurricane. The fewest hurricanes in a season during the satellite era is two and that happened in 1982 and 2013.
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Two other seasons of record reported no hurricanes, but they were before weather satellites, in 1907 and 1914.
September 10 is the climatological peak of hurricane season, and of then the Atlantic has generated the least Accumulated Cyclone Energy, or ACE, of any season since 1950 through September 10, according to Dr. Philip Klotzbach of Colorado State University.
ACE is a calculated metric that combines both the strength of storms as well as the lifespan of the storms across the entire season and is another way to measure the activity of a hurricane season.
While the hurricane season is far from over, there are forecast indicators that a slight uptick in tropical formation is possible over the next few weeks. Hurricane season runs through November 30 and we will keep you updated with whatever develops.
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