Record-Breaking 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season Comes to an End

The extremely active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season that came to a close Monday proved to be record-breaking, including a record 30 named storms and 12 landfalling storms in the continental United States.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and others had predicted that an above-normal season was highly likely, with a strong possibility of the season being extremely active. Ultimately, the season produced 30 named storms, of which 13 became hurricanes, including 6 major hurricanes.

The year's 30 named storms surpassed the previous record 28 in 2005, while the 13 hurricanes in 2020 were the second-highest number on record.

In a statement, NOAA noted that the 2020 season started early with a record nine named storms from May through July. The 21-name Atlantic storm list was exhausted September 18 with the formation of Tropical Storm Wilfred, forcing the use of the Greek alphabet to name storms for the remainder of the season, ending with the ninth name on the Greek alphabet list with Hurricane Iota in mid-November.

It was only the second time in history that it was necessary to use the Greek alphabet to name Atlantic storms.

"The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season ramped up quickly and broke records across the board," said Neil Jacobs, acting NOAA administrator. "Our investments in research, forecast models, and computer technology allowed forecasters at the National Weather Service, and its National Hurricane Center, to issue forecasts with increasing accuracy, resulting in the advanced lead time needed to ensure that decision makers and communities were ready and responsive."

This was the fifth consecutive year with an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season, with 18 above-normal seasons out of the past 26, NOAA said.