At a Glance
- It may be the heart of winter, but hurricane season is less than 100 days away.
- However, the last six hurricane seasons have started early.
- There are two new names in the 2021 list, and recurring names with interesting recent history.
The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season is less than 100 days away, a fact that's perhaps hard to believe given the recent winter siege across the country and the record-smashing 2020 season.
It's been just over three months since the last of 2020's named storms, Hurricane Iota, fizzled over Central America.
Following a record 30 named storms – 13 of which became hurricanes and 12 of which made a U.S. landfall – we can understand why some would like to bury the 2020 hurricane season as far back in the recesses of their mind as possible.
However, we're now almost three months away from the official start of the 2021 hurricane season.
Brighten Up Your Space With These Patio Sets On Sale Now (SPONSORED)
The first tropical or subtropical storm will be named "Ana," and this name's recent history illustrates something important about the hurricane season.
According to NOAA's Hurricane Research Division, the June-through-November hurricane season was parsed out to capture 97% of all Atlantic named storm activity.
However, the last six consecutive Atlantic hurricane seasons have started early, before the June 1 "official" start date.
Two of those seasons had two named storms form before June 1, including 2020's tropical storms Arthur and Bertha in late May.
SPONSORED: 25% off Anthropologie sale
The last time "Ana" was used as a hurricane name was also a May tropical storm, which made landfall near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Mother's Day 2015.
And in 2003, another Tropical Storm Ana became the first April Atlantic tropical storm on record; 2017's Arlene became the second.
Hurricane names in the Atlantic Basin repeat every six years unless one is so destructive and/or deadly that a committee of the World Meteorological Organization votes to retire that name from future lists. This avoids the use of names like Katrina, Sandy or Maria to describe a future weak, open-ocean tropical storm.
(MORE: Retired Hurricane Names Since 1954)
Two names from 2015's list were retired: Tropical Storm Erika, which produced devastating flooding on the island of Dominica, and Hurricane Joaquin, which dealt a punishing blow to the central Bahamas.
Those names were replaced in 2021 by Elsa and Julian, respectively. Yes, that means both Ana and Elsa are names in the same Atlantic hurricane season, not to mention Olaf is a name in the eastern Pacific hurricane season. Our apologies to parents who now have a certain song stuck in their heads.
There are some other notable past storms whose names will reappear in 2021:
-Tropical Storm Bill in 2015 brought flooding rain to parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas.
-As the so-called "Perfect Storm" raged off the coast of New England in late October 1991, it ingested the remnant of former Hurricane Grace, giving the already powerhouse storm another injection of energy.
-Tropical Storm Claudette in 1979 dumped an incredible 42 inches of rain in 24 hours in Alvin, Texas, still the state's 24-hour rainfall record.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
