By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-09-14 23:56:34 | Updated at 2026-09-15 01:32:12
1 hour ago
The Atlantic broke a six-decade record this year for the longest dry spell without a hurricane, according to forecasters.
No hurricanes have formed in the Atlantic so far in 2026, marking the most prolonged period without a hurricane since the modern era of storm tracking began in 1966, AccuWeather reported.
And if no hurricanes pop up in the region by Sept. 22, this year would be on track to break a whopping 85-year record for the lengthiest dry spell since 1941, according to the National Hurricane Center.
If none form in the Atlantic by Nov. 30, it would be only the third year on record to happen — after 1914 and 1907.
However, before the satellite storm-tracking era, storms far from land were harder to detect, and records may be incomplete.
The last significant hurricane to brew in the Atlantic and hit land was Hurricane Melissa, a catastrophic Category 5 system that pounded Jamaica on October 28, 2025.
It’s common for the major storms to grow by Sept. 10 — the peak of hurricane season — though no hurricanes formed in the basin by that date in 2024 and 2025 as well, the outlet said.
Still, hurricanes have developed past September. Not a single year has been totally hurricane-free since satellite storm tracking began.
“There have been no years during the satellite era that began in the early 1960s during which there have been no hurricanes,” said AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva.
“There was a stretch in 1994 where there were no hurricanes at all in September and October, but there was a hurricane prior to September, and November brought two hurricanes that year.”
A strengthening El Niño may be creating the conditions for the historic hurricane drought this year, AccuWeather hurricane experts said.
El Niño creates disruptive winds across the Atlantic, disrupting the formation of hurricanes and tropical storms in the basin and boosting them in the Pacific, the outlet reported.
Despite the dry spell, a trough of low pressure southeast of Bermuda has a low but favorable chance of developing into a tropical depression over the next seven days, the Naples Daily News reported.
The disturbance has a 0% chance of developing over the next two days and a 40% chance over the next seven days.
