Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

December 5, 2023 – On November 30th, we marked the close of yet another nail-biting, heart wrenching, roller coaster of an Atlantic Hurricane season and the National Hurricane Centre has ranked 2023 the season as fourth for ‘Most-named Storms in a Year.’

Initially predicted to be a lower than average season because of El Nino, the year smashed that early forecast and got active quickly crossing the finish line just short of earning a podium moment.  In real life, finishing on top of the heap is a good thing, when it comes to Hurricane Seasons, not so much.

In early June alone there were two named storms in the basin. Specifically Brett and Cindy and while it is common to get a storm prior to the official June 1 start of the season, the Atlantic basin has never before recorded two named systems in the month of June, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Another crucial moment was the rapid formation of four storms back to back. Emily, Franklin, Gert, and  Harold all materialized in a record-breaking 39 hours during the month of August.

Overall there were 22 tropical depressions in 2023 with 21 falling inside the parameters of the Hurricane season and one in January. There were  20 named storms overall, seven of them becoming hurricanes (Don, Franklin, Idalia, Lee, Margot, Nigel and Tammy) and three major hurricanes: Category 4 hurricanes: Franklin and Idalia and Lee, which climbed to Cat 5 status.

Colorado State University had warned of a possible 18 named storms with as many as nine hurricanes and four major hurricanes in an updated forecast mid-season.  In early 2023 they had previously predicted 15 named storms with seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.  CSU came closest with its prediction, which still underestimated what June 1 to November 30 would bring this year.

The increased activity was blamed on warmer sea temperatures. These temperatures happened in what is now on record as the ‘hottest year’ ever.

“The Atlantic basin produced the most named storms of any El Nino-influenced year in the modern record,” said Matthew Rosencrans, lead hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center — a division of NOAA’s National Weather Service.

“The record-warm ocean temperatures in the Atlantic provided a strong counterbalance to the traditional El Nino impacts,” the NHC said.

Countries that suffered direct impact/landfall included St Vincent & the Grenadines; Bermuda, the United States, Canada, Antigua & Barbuda and Nicaragua. Other countries reported damage from passing hurricanes and tropical storms including Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, USVI and the Turks and Caicos.

More than two dozen are confirmed dead across the Atlantic following flooding and other dangerous conditions resulting from tropical storm activity in the 2023 hurricane season, with property damage so far recorded at just over $3 billion.

In mid-November a surprising rainstorm (aka Tropical Depression 22) wreaked havoc in countries like the Dominican Republic where at least 30 people were killed in Santo Domingo due to shocking landslides.

Photo by Paul Dellegatto, Tampa Florida River Walk