Publication Date December 1, 2016 | The Watchers

Above-normal 2016 hurricane seasons

Cuba
Atlantic basin tropical cyclone tracks in 2016. Image: CSU
Atlantic basin tropical cyclone tracks in 2016. Image: CSU

The Atlantic, eastern Pacific and central Pacific 2016 hurricane season have officially ended on November 30, and NOAA scientists said all three regions saw above-normal seasons.

For the Atlantic, this was the first above-normal season since 2012 with 15 named storms during 2016, including 7 hurricanes:

  1. Alex - January - The strongest January hurricane in Atlantic since records began in 1851
  2. Earl - August - Belize landfall, 40 people killed in Mexico
  3. Gaston - August - Formed during the peak of northern hemisphere's 2016 season
  4. Hermine - August/September - Made landfall in the Big Bend area, Florida
  5. Matthew - October - The strongest, deadliest and longest-lived storm of the season
  6. Nicole - October - Passed over Bermuda, remnants reached Greenland and Iceland
  7. Otto - November - The strongest Atlantic hurricane this late in the season since 1934

3 of them became major hurricanes: Gaston, Matthew and Nicole.

According to meteorologist Philip Klotzbach of the CSU, Matthew has generated the most Accumulated Cyclone Energy this season (48.5) and had many other meteorological achievements. It was followed by Nicole (25.6) and Gaston (24.6).