The 2025 Atlantic Hurricane season ended less than a week ago. It will be remembered for producing the second-most Category 5 storms in a single season. What is also notable is that there wasn't a single hurricane that made landfall in the U.S.
In terms of activity, most early forecasts for this year's season were accurate. In early August, NOAA revised its initial forecast issued in the spring. The agency predicted 13-18 named storms (with tropical-storm-force winds of 39 mph or greater) would form this year. NOAA called for 5-9 of them to become hurricanes, of which 2-5 would intensify into major hurricanes.
The final numbers verified NOAA's forecast. The 2025 Atlantic Hurricane season spawned 13 named storms, five of which became hurricanes and four of which strengthened into major hurricanes.
"The main consideration going into the season was just very, very warm ocean temperatures, either record-breaking in parts, or close to record-breaking," said Brian McNoldy, Senior Research Associate at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, per Grist.
Warm ocean waters are a key ingredient necessary for an active hurricane season. They were predicted and ultimately verified. What wasn't expected was a weather pattern that developed over the Southeast U.S. that steered many storms away from the country's East Coast, forcing them further out to sea.
During the traditionally peak months of the hurricane season, there is normally a ridge of high pressure sitting over or near the Southeast. Sinking air under ridges tends to suppress storms. Hurricanes often move westward or west-northwestward along the southern periphery of this ridge of high pressure.
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From August through October this year, the ridge had weakened and resembled more of a trough, which helped to keep our immediate coastline relatively quiet as it shunted storms away from our country's mainland.
"As they approached the East Coast, we had this anomalous influence this hurricane season, where they were more or less steered to the north by that anomalous trough," McNoldy explained.
This pattern spared the U.S. from the worst impacts of the unusually high number of powerful storms seen this season. Every major hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 status (maximum sustained winds of 157 mph or greater).
Erin, Humberto, and Melissa all climbed into the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane wind scale. In 2005, there were four Category 5 storms, including one of the country's deadliest and most damaging hurricanes in history, Hurricane Katrina. This was the only year to produce more Category 5 Hurricanes than 2025.
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"Well-constructed frame homes could have damage to roof, shingles, vinyl siding and gutters," is how the National Hurricane Center describes the damage capable from such a strong storm. "Large branches of trees will snap and shallowly rooted trees may be toppled. Extensive damage to power lines and poles likely will result in power outages that could last a few to several days."
Unusually warm ocean water, driven by our overheating planet, is supercharging many types of extreme weather, like hurricanes. An analysis of 2024's Atlantic hurricane season revealed our warming world boosted the wind speeds for every hurricane that year.
"Human-caused global warming elevated ocean temperatures and boosted all eleven storms' intensities, increasing their highest sustained wind speeds by 3 to 14 miles per hour," according to researchers with non-profit Climate Central. "This increase moved three of the hurricanes into a higher Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale category."
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