Hurricane season heats up in August

Although the month of July brought us a category 2 hurricane, this month is not usually a busy month in the tropics. A track of all hurricanes that have developed during the month of July over the last 100 years shows only a few dozen cyclones scattered throughout the Atlantic basin.

weatherblog.abc13.com

Now, compare that with a map showing all the August hurricanes that have developed over the past 100 years. Climatologically, August is the beginning of the most active time of the hurricane season. The peak of the season is in mid-September. Hurricane season usually winds down by early October. 

Some of the most infamous hurricanes made landfall during the month of August. Hurricane Camille was a category 5 storm that slammed into Louisiana and Mississippi in 1969. Hurricane Alicia developed in 1983, twenty five years ago, in late August. Hurricane Andrew, another category 5 hurricane, roared into south Florida in August 1992. Hurricane Bret made landfall in south Texas in August 1999. And then there was Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Last week we were tracking three different tropical systems at the same time. The tropics are quiet right now. But if history is any indication of what's ahead, watch for tropical systems to develop very quickly over the next several weeks.