June tropical cyclone climatology

[Hurricanehink]

Given that we have an active tropical storm right now, I thought I'd bore you all with some statistics on June tropical cyclones.

Since 1851, there have been 85 systems that attained tropical storm status during the month of June (about 52% of years, although some seasons had more than one June storm). In the more reliable period since 1950, there have been 38 such storms, or 60% of years.

The average point for when all June systems became a tropical storm is 23.4N 84.8W, or just off the northwest coast of Cuba. Going since 1950 yields 25.4N 84.1 W. The furthest south a storm formed was Hurricane 2 in 1933, which originated at 9ºN. This year's Chris is preliminarily the highest at 39.3ºN. However, its record may be in jeopardy when the TCR comes out, as the highest before Chris was Bret 81 with a latitude of 36º. Bret 81 also serves as an analog for Chris; although 44 (52%) of storms were in the Gulf of Mexico, and another 24 were in the western Caribbean, there were a few storms in the western Atlantic.

The storm in 1933 was also the furthest east for June with a longitude of 45.2ºW. This storm, Ana in 1979 (54.7ºW), and Arlene in 1999 (57.3ºW) are the only storms that became tropical storms further east than Chris. Again, Chris's status could be in jeopardy, as Bret 81 is next on the list with a longitude of 65ºW.