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The first month of the Atlantic hurricane season isn't typically very active, but that wasn't the case in 2021.

According to statistics compiled by NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, only about 5% of all Atlantic Basin tropical storms have occurred in June from 1851 through 2020.

That's an average of roughly one storm every one to two years.

June's activity is usually low because a smaller area of the Atlantic Basin – namely the Gulf of Mexico, northwest Caribbean Sea, and off the Southeast U.S. coast – has the favorable conditions needed for tropical development.

Wind shear that can rip apart systems trying to develop is still relatively high in June, as pointed out by WPLG-TV hurricane specialist Michael Lowry.

Surges of dry, dusty air from Africa's Sahara Desert known as Saharan Air Layers can also suppress thunderstorms needed for tropical cyclones to form in June.

June 2021: Four Storms a First in Satellite Era

June 2021 didn't get that memo – four named storms formed in the final 17 days of the month.

Tropical Storm Bill kicked off this busy stretch on June 14 but tracked away from the East Coast.

Just five days later, Tropical Storm Claudette formed and quickly moved ashore in Louisiana.

Tropical Storm Danny formed quickly and moved ashore in South Carolina on June 28.

Finally, just as June's final hours were ticking away, Tropical Storm Elsa formed well east of the Windward Islands the evening of June 30, the record-earliest fifth named storm of any Atlantic hurricane season in the satellite era (since 1966).

It became a hurricane as it tracked through the Windward Islands, then eventually tracked up the East Coast from Florida to New England in early July.

2021 was the first June in the satellite era to have four storms develop during the month.

Many Junes in the satellite era failed to produce a single tropical storm. Most recently, neither 2018 nor 2019 produced a June storm, though each had a storm in late May that jumped the season's official June 1 start.

As alluded to earlier, if a June storm forms, it is most likely to do so in the Gulf of Mexico, far western Caribbean Sea, or off the Southeast U.S. coast.

It's another reminder that now is a good time to develop or refresh your hurricane plan well before the season's first storm or hurricane.

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