The 2003 atlantic season is with 4 named storms=2 hurricanes

[cycloneye]

As of july 18th the 2003 season is on a 1995 pace if it keeps up at this rate. :o Anyone has stats of how many hurricanes haved formed early in past seasons as of july 18th?

[isobar]

Luis, Perry started a great thread yesterday, however it's already on pg 2 in Tropics. He was primarily referring to named storms and not hurricanes specifically. Here's his post, which was super informative:

With Danny christened on 7/16, we are now on a record pace.....for number of named storms in a season..

Here's how quickly we've reached the 4th (D), 5th (E), and 6th (F) named storms in other early active seasons...so you can compare:

Earliest 4th named storm of record:

1. 2003....July 16 (Danny)
2. 1997....July 17 (Danny)
3. 1933....July 21 (unnamed)


Earliest 5th named storm of record:

1. 1966....July 22 (Ella)
2. 1933....July 25 (unnamed)
3. 1936....July 27 (unnamed)


Earliest 6th named storm of record:

1. 1936....August 04 (unnamed)
2. 1995....August 08 (Felix)
3. 1933....August 12 (unnamed)


As you can see, there's never been a fifth named storm before July 22nd or a 6th named storm before August 4th. If Erika forms before midnight Monday night, we'll still be ahead of record pace.

Just out of curosity, here's how those other active early seasons ended up:

1933. Most active hurricane season of record for the Atlantic Basin....21 named storms formed....including 10 hurricanes, 5 of them which were major hurricanes -- THREE of which slammed the U.S. Other major hurricanes struck the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Mexico.

1936. 16 named storms developed...only 7 hurricanes...but 4 of those 7 were intense (cat 3+) hurricanes. The U.S. was struck by one major hurricane (FL Panhandle), and another borderline cat 2/3 (NC/VA) that may have been major (110-115 mph).

1966. A season with 11 named storms...including 7 hurricanes and 2 major hurricanes. No major hurricanes struck the U.S. in 1966, but Inez...a powerful cat 4 (927 mb & 150-155 mph) ravaged Haiti and eastern Cuba.

1995. The second most active Atlantic hurricane season of record....19 named storms formed....with 11 of them becoming hurricanes, and 5 intense hurricanes. 115-120 mph hurricane Opal blasted the Florida Panhandle in October; while massive 140 mph Luis caused major damage in the northeast Caribbean....Marilyn (110-115 mph) also struck the U.S. Virgin Islands causing death and destruction....and cat-3 Roxanne struck the Yucatan.

1997. The anomaly season.....Danny formed in the Gulf of Mexico, then the tropical Atlantic went dead due to a strong El Nino. The next named storm, hurricane Erika) didn't form until September 3rd, and the season ended with only 7 named storms, 3 hurricanes, and Erika (125 mph) was the only intense hurricane. While the Atlantic sputtered, monster cat-5 hurricane Linda roared in the Eastern Pacific, becoming the most powerful hurricane in EPAC history (902 mb and 185 mph).

[cycloneye]

Ok thanks isobar.

[JetMaxx]

Thanks Donna!

[JetMaxx]

Luis...I just checked and in 1966, there were 4 hurricanes by the end of July...so we need two additional hurricanes in two weeks to equal that.

There have also been a few seasons since 1870 with three hurricanes before August 1st -- but the last time it happened was in 1959.

In both 1996 and 1997 two hurricanes formed in July...1996 was very active (an incredible 6 major hurricanes!); but 1997 was very quiet overall (due to a strong El Nino).

What we're witnessing in 2003 is definitely unusual...if another storm is named before midnight Tuesday....we'll set a record for the earliest date for five named storms -- and there have NEVER been six named storms before August 1st (actually before August 4th).

Perry

[cycloneye]

As always Perry thanks for all that information that helps not only me but to all the members to learn about the past seasons and records of them.