Hurricane Season's Opening Act: Where Atlantic Storms Usually Form In June And Its Recent Active Stretch
Flipping the calendar to June means summer is here and school is out, but it's also when hurricane season officially begins in the Atlantic. The acceleration of the season's activity is often gradual until the August and September peak arrives, but history shows why your preparedness plan should already be in place for possible early-season storms.
(MORE: 2025 Hurricane Season Outlook)
-Long-Term Frequency Of Storms Is Historically Low: On average, there's one June named storm in the Atlantic, Caribbean or Gulf every one to two years. That's just an average, so some years have had multiple June storms while numerous others have had none.
-Recent Junes Have Proven To Be More Active: At least two named storms have formed in four of the last five Junes. The only exception was 2022, when one storm developed in the month.
-Storms Most Often Form Closer To United States: The southeastern U.S. coast, the Gulf and the northwestern Caribbean Sea are typical breeding grounds for tropical storms in June, as shaded in yellow below. Since that's close to land, it increases the chance of impacts along the Gulf and Southeast coasts of the U.S. when a storm forms.
-Continental US Hurricane Landfalls Are Rare: Only four hurricanes have hit the continental U.S. in June since 1950. Audrey in 1957 was the strongest of the bunch, making landfall as a Category 3 in Louisiana. Bonnie (1986), Agnes (1972) and Alma (1966) are the other three June U.S. hurricane landfalls in the last 74 years.
-Tropical Storms Can Still Deliver Serious Impacts: Allison in early June 2001 is probably the starkest example of major impacts from a tropical storm. It made landfall as a 50-mph tropical storm near Freeport, Texas, but its remnants lingered for days, which resulted in a multi-billion-dollar, deadly flood disaster across the Houston metro area.
We mentioned Agnes's June landfall as a hurricane above, but its worst impacts were felt during its second chapter as a tropical storm that produced disastrous flooding in the Northeast.
-Recent Junes Have Provided Examples Of Impactful Tropical Storms: Last year, Tropical Storm Alberto tracked into eastern Mexico on June 20, but still produced 2 to 4 feet of storm surge on the Texas coast and brought 5 to 8 inches of rain to South Texas.
Claudette in 2021 produced significant flooding and tornadoes from the Gulf Coast into the Southeast, resulting in four flood deaths in Alabama. Cristobal hit the northern Gulf Coast in early June 2020 and produced significant storm surge as well as heavy rain, gusty winds and tornadoes.
-The Atlantic's Had Recent Oddball Storms: It's rare to see storms form farther away from the U.S. in the portion of the Atlantic that stretches from the Caribbean Islands to Africa in June. But the past two years have been exceptions for this part of the ocean basin, with Hurricane Beryl forming in the final days of the month in 2024, and tropical storms Bret and Cindy both developing in the same region in 2023.
Beryl was the easternmost Atlantic Basin June hurricane on record, breaking a record from the Trinidad and Tobago hurricane of 1933.
-Why June Is Usually A Slower Month: It all boils down to how atmospheric and oceanic conditions evolve through summer. Unfavorable upper-level winds and dry, dusty air from Africa's Sahara Desert tend to inhibit tropical storm development early in the season when compared to August through early October. Sea-surface temperatures in the tropics are also still rising before peaking at their warmest levels in September.
-The Storm Names We'll See In 2025: Andrea will be followed by Barry and Chantal to start the list of 21 names. To see the full list, including one newcomer, go to this link.
Chris Dolce has been a senior meteorologist with weather.com for over 10 years after beginning his career with The Weather Channel in the early 2000s.
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