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Axios
Axios
Science
Noa Yadidi

The Atlantic Basin's tropical storms and hurricanes in 2019

A pile of debris near the remains of a home destroyed by Hurricane Michael in Florida. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Hurricane Dorian became the first major hurricane of the 2019 Atlantic season when it made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane on Sept. 1 in the Bahamas. At least 43 people in the Bahamas were killed with many others left missing. This season has, so far, seen four named hurricanes.

The big picture: NOAA's Climate Prediction Center is forecasting a "near normal" season this year. It's also predicting a range of 9 to 15 named storms — 4 to 8 of which could become hurricanes.


The full list of 2019's named storms:

1. Andrea

  • Formed: May 20
  • Dissipated: May 22
  • Location: South of Bermuda
  • Highest classification: Subtropical storm
  • Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph
  • Andrea formed before the official beginning of hurricane season, making 2019 the fifth consecutive year in which a named tropical storm has formed before June 1, per the Washington Post.

2. Barry

  • Formed: July 11
  • Dissipated: July 19
  • Location: Southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi
  • Highest classification: Hurricane
  • Maximum sustained winds: 75 mph

3. Chantal

  • Formed: Aug. 20
  • Dissipated: Aug. 23
  • Location: 455 miles south of Newfoundland
  • Highest classification: Tropical storm
  • Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph

4. Dorian

  • Formed: Aug. 24
  • Dissipated: Sept. 8
  • Location: Southeastern U.S., Northwestern Bahamas
  • Highest classification: Category 5 hurricane
  • Maximum sustained winds: 185 mph
  • First major hurricane of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. Dorian is tied with a 1935 hurricane as the strongest Atlantic hurricane on record.
  • Dorian caused the most devastation in the Bahamas, killing at least 43 people and leaving many missing.

5. Erin

  • Formed: Aug. 26
  • Dissipated: Aug. 29
  • Location: Midway between Bermuda and southeast U.S.
  • Highest classification: Tropical storm
  • Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph

6. Fernand

  • Formed: Sept. 3
  • Dissipated: Sept. 4
  • Location: Northeastern coast of Mexico
  • Highest classification: Tropical storm
  • Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph
  • Fernand made landfall along the coast of northeastern Mexico on Sept. 4 around 11:15 AM CDT about 35 miles north of La Pesca with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, per the NHC.

7. Gabrielle

  • Formed: Sept. 3
  • Dissipated: Sept. 12
  • Location: Eastern tropical Atlantic (moved northwest)
  • Highest classification: Extratropical cyclone
  • Maximum sustained winds: 65 mph

8. Humberto

  • Formed: Sept. 12
  • Location: Bahamas, Bermuda, southeastern U.S.
  • Highest classification: Category 3 hurricane
  • Maximum sustained winds: 125 mph

9. Imelda

  • Formed: Sept. 17
  • Dissipated: Sept. 19
  • Location: Texas
  • Highest classification: Tropical storm
  • Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph

10. Jerry

  • Formed: Sept. 17
  • Location: The Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands
  • Highest classification: Category 2 hurricane
  • Maximum sustained winds: 105 mph

11. Karen

  • Formed: Sept. 22
  • Location: Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
  • Highest classification: Tropical storm
  • Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph

12. Lorenzo

13. Melissa

14. Nestor

15. Olga

16. Pablo

17. Rebekah

18. Sebastien

19. Tanya

20. Van

21. Wendy

Be smart: Names are given to tropical storms when they have sustained wind speeds higher than 39 mph. Once a storm reaches sustained winds of 74 mph or higher, it's considered a hurricane, and it maintains the same name it was given when it became a tropical storm.

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