Updated

By September 13, 2026, the Atlantic basin had still not produced a single hurricane-strength tropical cyclone, a milestone that commentators and weather watchers noted as the first time in roughly 60 years that no Atlantic hurricane had formed by September 12. The season to that point had generated only tropical storms — Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly and Edouard — several of which brought heavy rain and gusty winds to the Gulf Coast without reaching hurricane intensity. The statistic circulated widely on social media over the weekend of September 13, prompting political argument about what a quiet season does or does not say about climate trends. The quiet season was broadly consistent with pre-season expectations: NOAA had maintained a below-normal Atlantic outlook, calling for roughly 7-13 named storms, 2-6 hurricanes and 0-2 major hurricanes, with forecasters citing El Niño-driven wind shear across the tropical Atlantic. The mid-September record mattered because the climatological peak of the season falls in early-to-mid September, the window when hurricanes are normally most likely. Forecasters cautioned that the season was not over, and prediction markets on September 13 still put meaningful odds on a hurricane forming before the end of the month.