News

Actions

2017 hurricane season about to break 124-year-old record

Posted at 10:37 AM, Oct 10, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-10 14:57:10-04

Tropical Storm Ophelia formed earlier this week, becoming the 15th named storm of the season.

Ophelia won't threaten any land. Instead, it will continue to spin in the middle of the Atlantic and possibly strengthen into a hurricane.

If Tropical Storm Ophelia becomes Hurricane Ophelia, it will be the 10th hurricane in a row. Every tropical cyclone since Franklin has reached hurricane status.

That's something that hasn't happened since 1893.

However, there were no satellites in 1893, so smaller tropical storms in the middle of the Atlantic could have gone unnoticed during that 10-storm hurricane streak.

RELATED: Track every tropical storm and hurricane with the Storm Shield app

Even the busiest hurricane seasons in recent years — 2012, 2010 and 2005 — didn't see nearly as many hurricanes back to back like this year. Those years had smaller tropical storms or depressions in between hurricanes.

This hurricane season has been exceptionally busy with an unusual number of major hurricanes — five so far.

There have also been three different Category 4 hurricanes to make a U.S. landfall — Harvey, Irma and Maria. That's never happened since we started keeping records.

There's a little more than a month and a half to go in what's been a remarkable hurricane season, and fortunately, there's currently no sign of Philippe behind Ophelia.

 

Follow Storm Shield Meteorologist Jason Meyersvia the Storm Shield appon Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Download the Storm Shield Weather Radio App for your iPhone or Android device and get severe weather alerts wherever you are. Named by Time.com one of the best weather apps for your iPhone.