Atlantic reaches October without a single hurricane, a satellite-era first

LONDON — The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season has reached October without a single hurricane forming — a first in the satellite era, which began in 1966, according to weather.com.

Eight tropical storms have formed in the Atlantic since June, but none reached the 74mph sustained-wind threshold of a hurricane, National Hurricane Center data shows. The previous record for the latest first hurricane of a satellite-era season was 11 September, set in 2013 and 2002.

A strengthening super El Nino is to blame: its wind shear and dry air across the Atlantic’s main development region have torn tropical systems apart before they could organise, AccuWeather says. The basin’s accumulated cyclone energy is running about 90 percent below average — roughly 9 against a late-September average of 88.

Only 1907 and 1914 finished a season without a hurricane — both before routine satellite monitoring. Since 1966, the quietest seasons (1982 and 2013) managed two.

Forecasters still urge caution. The season officially runs until 30 November, and October averages one to two hurricane formations, usually closer to the US in the Gulf or Caribbean. AccuWeather now forecasts zero to two hurricanes. As weather.com puts it, “it only takes one”: the otherwise quiet 1992 season produced Category 5 Hurricane Andrew, one of only three such storms to make US landfall, at a cost of $26.5bn.

Tropical Storm Edouard still dumped up to 20 inches of rain on parts of Texas and Louisiana in early September, and authorities rescued dozens of people from floodwaters, the Associated Press reported.

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Sources: weather.com (Jonathan Erdman, Sept 30); AccuWeather via Main Street Daily News; Associated Press on Edouard; USA Today network on ACE (Sept 27).