2020 has been a record-breaking hurricane season but it’s not over yet.
The historic peak of hurricane season is now behind us, but the 2020 season continues to stay very active.
So far this season, we’ve had 24 named storms in the Atlantic Basin. For only the second time in history, we have exhausted the name list provided by the National Hurricane Center and have had to dip into the Greek alphabet.
The Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and Western Atlantic are known breeding grounds for tropical systems in October.
The good news is that late-season hurricanes in Texas are generally few and far between. The upper-level westerly winds typically start taking over at this point of the year, steering most storms away from the Lone Star State.
Historically, very few landfalling hurricanes have occurred during the month of October in Texas. There have been just three recorded hurricane hits in Texas during October: Jerry in 1989, Hurricane 10 in 1949, and an unnamed storm in 1912.
While there are no immediate threats to Texas, there is still some activity in the tropics that need to be monitored. Tropical Storm Gamma continues to meander near the Yucatan Peninsula bringing torrential rain in Mexico. Meanwhile, another tropical wave bears watching in the southern Caribbean. It has a high chance of development in the next five days. The next name on the list is Delta.
With still nearly two months left of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, we don’t want to let our guard down yet. It’s always a good idea to be prepared. Make sure you have a hurricane kit ready and review your family plan to make sure you are ready for anything that comes our way.
The Atlantic hurricane season ends on November 30th.