Extract:
The 2018 hurricane season overall was slightly above average. The season was
characterized by above-average numbers of named storms and hurricanes and nearaverage
numbers of major hurricanes. Our initial seasonal forecast issued in April
correctly predicted a slightly above-average season, while later seasonal forecasts
underestimated Atlantic hurricane activity. These downward adjustments were primarily
due to anomalous tropical Atlantic SST cooling. Despite a relatively cold tropical
Atlantic, early September 2018 was extremely active and was the primary driver of the
slightly above-average season that occurred. In addition, six of the fifteen named storms
that formed in 2018 were initially classified as subtropical, and these types of systems
that form in the subtropics do not respond to large-scale tropical climate drivers in the
same way that TCs forming in the tropics do.
characterized by above-average numbers of named storms and hurricanes and nearaverage
numbers of major hurricanes. Our initial seasonal forecast issued in April
correctly predicted a slightly above-average season, while later seasonal forecasts
underestimated Atlantic hurricane activity. These downward adjustments were primarily
due to anomalous tropical Atlantic SST cooling. Despite a relatively cold tropical
Atlantic, early September 2018 was extremely active and was the primary driver of the
slightly above-average season that occurred. In addition, six of the fifteen named storms
that formed in 2018 were initially classified as subtropical, and these types of systems
that form in the subtropics do not respond to large-scale tropical climate drivers in the
same way that TCs forming in the tropics do.