The agency\u2019s outlook gives the season a 55 percent chance of being below normal, a 35 percent chance of being near normal and a 10 percent chance of being above normal.<\/p>\n
The NOAA is forecasting eight to 14 named storms with winds of 39 mph or higher. <\/p>\n
Of those, three to six are forecast to become hurricanes with winds of 74 mph or higher, including one to three major hurricanes that are Category 3, 4 or 5 with winds of 111 mph or higher, the agency said.<\/p>\n
An average Atlantic season has 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.<\/p>\n
The 2026 Atlantic season is expected to be below normal because of competing weather factors. <\/p>\n
El Ni\u00f1o is expected to develop and intensify during the season, while ocean temperatures in the Atlantic are expected to be slightly warmer than normal and trade winds are likely weaker than average, the agency said. <\/p>\n
NOAA said El Ni\u00f1o conditions tend to support fewer tropical storms and hurricanes, while warmer ocean temperatures and low winds support a more active year.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough El Ni\u00f1o\u2019s impact in the Atlantic Basin can often suppress hurricane development, there is still uncertainty in how each season will unfold. That is why it\u2019s essential to review your hurricane preparedness plan now. It only takes one storm to make for a very bad season,\u201d NOAA\u2019s National Weather Service Director Ken Graham said, adding, \u201cPreparing now for hurricane season \u2014 and not waiting for a storm to threaten \u2014 is essential for staying ahead of any storm.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahead of the season, NOAA and the National Hurricane Center are rolling out several new and updated tools. <\/p>\n
They include an improved tropical cyclone forecast cone graphic that will include tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings for inland areas in the continental United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. <\/p>\n
NOAA said the 2026 Atlantic seasonal outlook will be updated in early August, ahead of the historical peak of the season, which typically extends from mid-September through October.<\/p>\n
See Also: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The agency\u2019s outlook gives the season a 55 percent chance of being below normal, a 35 percent chance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280913,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-280912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}