Atlantic has already brought full year's worth of named storms as hurricane season 2023 hits peak

(WGHP) – Sunday, Sept. 10, marked the peak of hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean. According to climatology, the amount of tropical activity begins to decrease from now through the end of November.

With that being said, let’s take a look at how the 2023 Atlantic season compares to normal, now that we’re at the halfway point. 

2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season So Far

Named Storms

As of Sept. 9, the Atlantic hurricane season has already observed what would be a normal number of named storms for an entire Atlantic hurricane season.

With 14 named storms already in the Atlantic, this matches the yearly normal for named storms.

The 1991-2020 average through Sept. 9 is eight named storms which puts this season already six storms ahead of schedule.

Named Storm Days

In a normal year, we have about 32.8 days with an active storm in the Atlantic by Sept. 9. So far, we’ve already observed 51 named storm days in the Atlantic. 

Hurricanes

We’ve also observed four hurricanes in the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season so far. When we compared that number to the normal, we’re one hurricane ahead of schedule.

According to the 1991-2020 average, we typically have three hurricanes by this point in the season. A normal year typically has seven hurricanes in total. 

For major hurricanes, the 1991-2020 average is 1.5 by Sept. 9. We’ve already doubled that this season. The Atlantic has observed three major hurricanes already this year – Hurricane Idalia, Hurricane Lee and Hurricane Franklin.

Tracking the Tropics

Hurricane Lee continues to spin in the Atlantic as a major hurricane, and Tropical Storm Margo is also in the central Atlantic. 

Lee is forecast to remain a major hurricane through the middle of this week before weakening as it moves further north in the western Atlantic. 

Although it doesn’t look to be a concern for the NC coast other than rip currents, the Northeast will need to watch Lee closely. 

Margo is forecast to reach hurricane strength by the end of the day Monday but looks to be a “fish” storm as it remains out in the central Atlantic. 

There are two other areas of interest in the eastern Atlantic, off the coast of Africa. Both have a very low chance of development over the next 48 hours. However, the disturbance closer to the western coast of Africa has a better chance for development over the next week. 

Environmental conditions appear favorable for gradual development with a tropical depression possibly forming by the weekend as it moves into the central Atlantic. 

Source: Fox 8 News Channel