Atlantic Hurricane Season Entered Most Active Phase on Tuesday

The Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, but on Tuesday, we entered the “season within the season”—the period when tropical activity in the Atlantic is at its most intense.

This peak period, which runs through October 10, includes the overall peak of hurricane season on September 10. Remarkably, two-thirds of all hurricanes occur during this time as activity surges.

This surge is fuelled by a combination of atmospheric conditions across a vast area of the Atlantic, including low wind shear, warm sea surface temperatures, increased moisture, and atmospheric instability. These factors come together most powerfully from August through mid-October, creating an ideal environment for the formation and intensification of tropical systems. September, in particular, is the most active month, with a large area of the Atlantic becoming a hotspot for development.

During this period, tropical waves emerging from Africa and moving into the Atlantic are often more organised and developed, increasing their chances of evolving into hurricanes.

While the likelihood of hurricane formation decreases after mid-October as atmospheric conditions become less favourable and potential formation areas shrink, the threat persists until the official end of the season on November 30.