Hurricane Season Is Only Six Weeks Old, But We've Already Seen 9 Unusual Things Happen

There have been several strange aspects about this early-season activity. Below is a look back at some of the notables.

1. Fay's Unusual July Visit to New Jersey

Tropical Storm Fay leapfrogged the previous record earliest-in-season 'F' Atlantic storm on record by 13 days when it formed off the East Coast on July 9. That previous earliest sixth named storm, by the way, occurred during the record 2005 hurricane season.

But it was Fay's track northward into New Jersey and the New York City Tri-state area that was most strange for July.

Prior to Fay, only three other July or earlier named storms had tracked within 75 miles of New York City since 1950, according to NOAA's database. The former Hurricane Bertha in 1996 was the last to do so in July.

(COMPLETE RECAP: Tropical Storm Fay)

2. Edouard a Fourth of July Weekend Record Early 'E'

Record earliest storms will be a common theme in this list.

Over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Tropical Storm Edouard became the record earliest 'E' storm in the Atlantic Basin on July 5, about six days earlier than the previous record, Hurricane Emily in 2005.

Edouard gave Bermuda a brush before wind shear ended its brief life as a tropical cyclone on July 6.

3. Dolly Becomes Fourth Named Storm Before July

Dolly wasn't the record earliest 'D' storm when it formed on the afternoon of June 23.

According to Dr. Phil Klotzbach, a tropical scientist at Colorado State University, Danielle in 2016 formed on June 20 and Debby in 2012 formed on the morning of June 23.

Perhaps the weirdest thing about Dolly was pointed out by research meteorologist Sam Lillo. No other tropical or subtropical cyclone formed so far north before July 1 in records dating to 1851.

4. Thick Saharan Dust Invades the Corn Belt

Early in every hurricane season, plumes of hot, dry, dust-laden air from the Sahara Desert push westward across the Atlantic Basin into the Caribbean Sea and reach the Gulf Coast of the U.S.

But one surge of Saharan dust in late June was exceptional.

According to FEMA meteorologist Michael Lowry, a Saharan dust episode around Father's Day weekend was the most extreme dust outbreak over the tropical Atlantic's main development region between the Lesser Antilles and west Africa dating to at least 2003.

It eventually brought hazy skies and bad air quality as far north as the Midwest, including Omaha, Nebraska.

5. Cristobal's Remnants Head to Wisconsin

Tropical Storm Cristobal's remnants took a rare track across Wisconsin in early June.

Before Cristobal, the remnants of just three other Atlantic tropical cyclones had tracked through the state or its adjacent Lake Michigan waters in more than 100 years of records. The other three remnant systems were Gilbert in 1988, an unnamed former hurricane in 1949 and the former Galveston Hurricane from 1900.

Cristobal was different from those systems because its remnant traversed the entire length of the state to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan border. That's the farthest west on record a tropical cyclone remnant from the Atlantic has tracked through the Badger State.

6. Record-Earliest Third Named Storm

The previous record was held by Tropical Storm Colin in 2016, which formed on June 5.

7. A Pair of May Storms

Arthur and Bertha were the first two named Atlantic storms of 2020, and they both formed in May.

June 1 is the official start of hurricane season, but occasionally, storms form earlier than that date.

Arthur formed well east of Florida on May 16, and Bertha developed near the South Carolina coast on May 27.

There are only four other years in the Atlantic dating to 1851 where two storms have reached tropical storm intensity before May 27. That last happened in 2012, followed by 1951, 1908 and 1887, according to Klotzbach.

8. Bertha's Last-Second Formation

Bertha was unusual because it formed just before making landfall in South Carolina.

It developed at 8:30 a.m. EDT on May 27, 30 miles east-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina. An hour later, the National Hurricane Center declared that Bertha had made landfall just east of Charleston with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.

Bertha spread rainfall and gusty winds inland through the Carolinas into Virginia.

The disturbance that became Bertha brought more than a foot of rain to Miami. That rainfall caused widespread street flooding in parts of South Florida.

9. Four Named Storms Have Already Impacted the U.S.

Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal and Fay all had impacts in the U.S.

Arthur brought rainfall and gusty winds to North Carolina's Outer Banks, but never officially made landfall as it skirted Cape Hatteras on the way out to sea.

Bertha and Cristobal both made a U.S. landfall. Cristobal was the earliest in the year the continental U.S. has had its second landfall of the season, beating the previous record set on June 16, 2015 (Ana and Bill), according to Klotzbach.

Cristobal brought locally heavy rain from Florida westward to Louisiana, and then northward through the lower Mississippi Valley and parts of the Midwest. Cristobal also inundated parts of the northern Gulf Coast with storm-surge flooding, particularly from southeast Louisiana to coastal Mississippi.

Finally, Fay brought flooding rain from the Delmarva Peninsula into the New York City metro area on July 10.

What Does the Unusual Start Mean For the Rest of Hurricane Season?

As measured by Accumulated Cyclone Energy, an index that not only counts the number of named storms but also their strength and longevity, we're only about 7% through an average hurricane season, according to statistics compiled by Klotzbach.

A busy start to hurricane season doesn't always guarantee conditions will remain that way.

However, most forecasters predict that oceanic and atmospheric conditions in the Atlantic will be favorable for a more active than usual hurricane season in the months ahead.

It's impossible to know for certain if a U.S. hurricane strike will occur this season. Keep in mind that even a weak tropical storm hitting the U.S. can cause major impacts, particularly if it moves slowly and triggers flooding rainfall. That's why residents of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts should be prepared each year no matter how active a hurricane season is predicted to be.

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