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Preseason Storms Have Been Common Lately

Arthur is another example of how storms can sometimes form before the hurricane season officially begins on June 1. This is the sixth straight hurricane season that has started early.

Since 2015, at least one named storm has developed before June 1 each hurricane season, some of which had impacts in the United States and elsewhere in the Atlantic Basin.

Tracks of all Atlantic named storms that have formed before June 1 in each hurricane season from 2015 through 2019. The black segments of tracks denote when each system was either a remnant low-pressure center or an area of low pressure before becoming a depression or storm.

(Data: NOAA)

Last May, southwest of Bermuda the week before Memorial Day, but only lasted about 24 hours.

In 2018, Tropical Storm Alberto made a Memorial Day landfall along the Florida Panhandle, remained intact and took a before losing its tropical characteristics.

developed even earlier than Alberto and, in 2017, became only the second April Atlantic tropical storm of record.

Perhaps 2016 was the strangest early start to an Atlantic season in recent memory.

soaked the coast of the Carolinas in late-May 2016. But that was preceded by eastern Atlantic , only the second known January Atlantic hurricane. Alex eventually made landfall in the Azores as a tropical storm.

In 2015, Tropical Storm Ana made the on record on Mother's Day weekend along the coast of the Carolinas.

This early start also happened in 2012 (Alberto, then Beryl in May), 2008 (Arthur), 2007 (another Subtropical Storm Andrea) and 2003 (another Ana, this time in April). Beryl nearly became a hurricane before coming ashore near Jacksonville Beach, Florida, on Memorial Day weekend 2012.

Nine of 17 years from 2003 through 2019 had at least one named storm before June 1, and there were a total of 11 out-of-season named storms during that time. The majority of these developed and meandered, or made landfall along the coast from North Carolina to northeastern Florida.

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