Hurricane Season 2025 has arrived: What to expect
AUSTIN (KXAN) – The 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season is officially off and running with Sunday marking the very first day of the season.
Multiple factors go into determining our season, including El-Niño and La-Niña, sea surface temperatures, Saharan dust, and more. So, with multiple forecasts out there, the First Warning Weather Team has put together a few key details you need to know for the hurricane season.
Track tropical development on KXAN.com
The Atlantic Hurricane Season begins on Sunday, June 1, and runs through Sunday, November 30. On average, the beginning of the hurricane season and the end of the season usually see lower activity with the peak of hurricane season landing on September 10 when sea surface temperatures are the warmest.
Remember, the key ingredients for a tropical cyclone to develop are: sea surface temperatures at 80° or above, low upper-level wind shear, abundant moisture, and a pre-existing disturbance.
Colorado State University released their annual forecast on Thursday, April 3, calling for an above-average season with 17 named storms, with 9 of them becoming hurricanes and 4 of those becoming major hurricanes, or Category 3 or stronger. This is just above average, which is 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes, and 4 of those becoming major hurricanes. Over the past 5 years, only one season was right at average, with each of the other 4 years marking an above-average season.
CSU cites a warmer-than-normal tropical Atlantic along with ENSO neutral conditions. They are predicting a potential La Niña farther into the season, which would favor storm formation and intensification.
CSU forecasts above average Atlantic hurricane season
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its forecast on Thursday, May 22, and is also calling for an above-average season. Their forecast calls for 13-19 named storms, 6-10 of those becoming a hurricane, and 3-5 of those becoming a major hurricane. They are calling for a 60% chance of the season of an above-average season overall. They looked at warmer-than-average ocean temperatures, forecasts for weak wind shear, and the potential for more activity from the West African Monsoon.
They have also announced an upgrade to the Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System, which will give a 5% improvement to their tracking and intensity forecasts.
NOAA releases 2025 Atlantic hurricane season outlook
While storms develop over water and make landfall on the coast, Texas should always be weather aware and stay prepared should a storm hit the Texas Coast. While your area may be outside the cone of uncertainty, the effects of a tropical development can be felt for hundreds of miles away.
Meteorologist Kristen Currie breaks down what you need to know now in order to stay safe during the hurricane season.
The list of names is recycled every six years, with the most destructive storm names being retired from future years. Names such as Katrina, Harvey, Ian, and Sandy are just a few of the names no longer used. This year, the list begins with Andrea and ends with Wendy.
Based on conditions through the Atlantic, Caribbean, and the Gulf, during the first two months of the season, development is more likely along the East Coast of the United States and around the Gulf. While the development of storms during this time is less frequent, all the ingredients are there for some type of development.
As we move into the peak of the season, conditions become more favorable throughout the Atlantic, including a reduction in Saharan dust and an increase in ocean temperatures along with weaker wind shear. The number of storms and their intensity dramatically increase.
The 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season was one for the books as it was an above-average season, but one storm in particular was of interest. In June of 2024, Beryl began its journey in the Atlantic, through the Lesser Antilles and into the Caribbean, becoming a Category 5 storm. As it approached and crossed the Yucatan Peninsula, the storm lost steam and was downgraded to a Tropical Storm before rapidly intensifying into a Category 1 hurricane before making landfall near Matagorda, Texas. This was the earliest-forming Category 5 hurricane on record for the Atlantic Ocean.
Tropical tracker: Timeline of storms in the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season
Hurricanes Kirk and Helene intensified into Category 4 hurricanes during their development, with Rafael becoming a Category 3 storm late in the season.
The best way to think of the season is that it only ever takes one to hit near you for it to be considered an active season.
Download the KXAN Weather App
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
24 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Flying boats make for a rare sight as Washington clears an island of derelict vessels by helicopter
OLYMPIA, Wash. — As the owner of a marina, Kate Gervais is used to seeing boats in the water. But for the last couple of days, she's been seeing them in the air. The Washington Department of Natural Resources this week used one of its firefighting helicopters to haul abandoned boats off an uninhabited island in the southernmost reaches of Puget Sound, where the vessels had come to rest after drifting with the currents, and fly them to the mainland to be deconstructed later.
Digital Trends
25 minutes ago
- Digital Trends
Watch this SpaceX rocket launch on 15th anniversary of first Falcon 9 liftoff
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roared skyward on Wednesday on what was also the 15th anniversary of the first-ever Falcon 9 launch. The anniversary mission launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, deploying 27 Starlink internet satellites to low-Earth orbit. Here's the SpaceX rocket leaving the launchpad: Falcon 9 lifts off from pad 4E in California on the 15th anniversary of its first launch — SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 4, 2025 Wednesday's mission was the 26th flight for this particular first-stage booster, which previously launched Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, Transporter-7, Iridium OneWeb, SDA-0B, NROL-113, NROL-167, NROL-149, and 17 Starlink missions. Recommended Videos Following stage separation, the Falcon 9 booster returned and landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which was waiting in the Pacific Ocean. It's been a busy 15 years for SpaceX, during which it has perfected the launch-to-landing system of its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX's first launch of the Falcon 9 took at Cape Canaveral in Florida on June 4, 2010. The inaugural flight marked a significant milestone in commercial spaceflight history as it was the first time that a privately developed rocket of Falcon 9's size had been successfully launched to orbit. The mission deployed a prototype of the Dragon spacecraft, called the Dragon Spacecraft Qualification Unit. The uncrewed test flight evaluated the rocket's performance and the spacecraft's aerodynamic capabilities, with the latter completing more than 300 orbits before reentering Earth's atmosphere and burning up later that month. You can watch the highlights of the historic flight below: The successful inaugural launch laid the foundation for SpaceX's subsequent achievements, including the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) in 2012 and the development of reusable rocket technology. Today, the Falcon 9, Dragon, and Crew Dragon make regular runs to the ISS, carrying both cargo and crew. The workhorse rocket also deploys satellites for government and commercial entities globally, and, as in Wednesday's mission, is helping to build out SpaceX's internet-from-space Starlink service with numerous satellite deployments in low-Earth orbit. Importantly, the Falcon 9 was also a stepping stone to the development of the mighty Starship, the most powerful rocket ever to fly. The Starship comprises the first-stage Super Heavy booster and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft. The 120-meter-tall vehicle made its first flight in April 2023, and its most recent one just last month. The rocket will one day be used for crew and cargo voyages to the moon, and possibly Mars, too.
Associated Press
31 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Flying boats make for a rare sight as Washington clears an island of derelict vessels by helicopter
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — As the owner of a marina, Kate Gervais is used to seeing boats in the water. But for the last couple of days, she's been seeing them in the air. The Washington Department of Natural Resources this week used one of its firefighting helicopters to haul abandoned boats off an uninhabited island in the southernmost reaches of Puget Sound, where the vessels had come to rest after drifting with the currents, and fly them to the mainland to be deconstructed later. With 14 vessels removed, it was the agency's largest operation of its kind, officials said. 'It was a very, very weird sight,' said Gervais, who owns Boston Harbor Marina, just north of Olympia. 'The sail boat with the mast was the weirdest one to see.' A boat removal by helicopter is typically done by a private pilot, but for this operation, which was funded by a federal grant, the DNR opted to use one of its firefighting helicopters. It was cheaper and helped stretch the $1 million NOAA grant, said Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove. The state agency opts to airlift boats when towing them would disrupt the marine bed or surrounding environment too much. The aquatic lands where the boats land often include kelp beds, which are critical for supporting the forage fish that salmon rely on. Vessels for this operation where found in hard-to-reach coves, at the tree line or in mud that rendered an airlift a better option, agency staff said. Since the boat removal program began in 2002, the department has hauled out more than 1,200 derelict vessels. There are at least 300 more out there, with more found all the time, Upthegrove said. 'It's a real challenge impacting the Puget Sound when people essentially dump their old boats into the water because they don't want to deal with disposing of them,' he said. 'That burden then falls on all of us.' The federal grant allowed the state to clean up boats on Squaxin Island, an uninhabited island that is of particular cultural importance to the Squaxin Island Tribe. The tribe's people once shared vast lands in western Washington state, but following the 1854 Treaty of Medicine Creek, the island — 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) long and half a mile (800 meters) wide — was the main area reserved for them, according to the tribe's website. Eventually, the tribe's members moved off the island, but they continue to use it for fishing, hunting, shellfish gathering and camping. 'The Squaxin Island Tribe is very enthusiastic about this opportunity to work with DNR to clean-up derelict vessels on tribal lands,' said Daniel Kuntz, the tribe's policy and program manager. 'Maintaining clean beaches and water are essential to the Squaxin Island culture to ensure gathering access for future generations.'
