This year’s Atlantic Hurricane Season is already a record-maker. So far, three storms have been named, the most devastating of those storms was Hurricane Beryl.
Beryl devastated parts of Jamaica and the state of Texas with strong winds and flooding rain earlier this month.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Beryl was the strongest July Atlantic hurricane on record, the earliest Category 5 hurricane in history in the Atlantic on July 2, 2024, and it was the second Category 5 hurricane to form during the month of July. Hurricane Emily was the first, forming back in July 2005.
Since Beryl, though, the tropics have been quiet. But we can’t let our guard down.
From June to August, tropical systems have been known to form in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic Ocean as sea surface temperatures begin to rise. Some of those storms have even impacted the U.S. East Coast over the years.
New England, especially Massachusetts, doesn't typically don’t see many direct hits from tropical systems during the month of July - but it's not unheard of.
In July 1996, Tropical Storm Bertha impacted New England with periods of heavy rain, gusty winds and power outages in the region, including Massachusetts. About 80 years before that, an unnamed hurricane made landfall in July 1916 in New England.
But history has shown us that some of the most notable and destructive hurricanes to directly impact the Commonwealth have occurred during the months of August, September and October.
Here are just a few that might ring a bell:
- Hurricane Bob (August 1991)
- Hurricane Carol (August 1954)
- Hurricane Edna (September 1954)
- The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 (September 1938)
- Hurricane Sandy (or “Superstorm Sandy” – October 2012)
So, while conditions are quiet for now in the tropics, let’s stay alert through the rest of the season. Massachusetts becomes a bit more vulnerable to direct landfalls or impacts from tropical systems from August to October.
And remember -- as the saying goes, it only takes one!
The Atlantic Hurricane Season officially ends on November 30.
