October can still bring big storms to the tropics

This year's Atlantic hurricane season has taken us on an unbelievable journey over the past few months. And though we're past the peak of this year's season, October can still bring big storms.

If you recall, this year was touted as an active, above-average season from not only the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but also from forecasters at Colorado State University.

And as predicted, the season got off to a busy start with Hurricane Beryl. The storm devastated parts of Texas, including the Houston area, with flooding, power outages and several deaths.

In early August, Hurricane Debby impacted not only the state of Florida with a landfall, but it also made a second landfall in South Carolina a few days later. Debby produced a great deal of rain and damage. Several people also died during that storm.

Hurricane Ernesto was another notable storm over the summer that remained offshore from the U.S. Our rip current risk increased a bit here in southern New England.

But then, after Ernesto, hurricane season got quiet -- I mean, very quiet for a few weeks -- which left some wondering if this year's predictions of "above-average" would verify.

All of that ended when Francine formed in the tropics and made landfall as a hurricane in Louisiana on Sept. 11.

Then, the unimaginable happened. Hurricane Helene developed in the tropics.

Helene will likely go down in history as one of the most devastating storms ever to hit the U.S.

Helene's impacts were catastrophic. In fact, Busick, North Carolina, a community in the mountains, received more than 30 inches of rain from Helene. Thirty inches! Flooding and mudslides inundated communities. And some people are still unaccounted for since the storm. We'll continue to get updates from authorities as cities and towns pick up the pieces after this horrific event.

But now that it’s October, we can't let our guard down.

Sure, we're past the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, which typically occurs every year around Sept. 10. But as history has shown us, October can see a lot of tropical activity.

In fact, climatologically speaking, there is a secondary peak during the middle of October. That peak is mainly for the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico region.

Why is this the case? One of the biggest reasons is that water temperatures are still very warm during the month of October in that area, which helps fuel tropical systems. That also means that storms can form close to the U.S. this time of the year.

Remember some of these notable October tropical systems?

• Wilma (2005)
• Superstorm Sandy (2012)
• Hurricane Matthew (2016)
• Michael (2018)

What's so interesting about that list is that each of those October storms have been retired! Yes, RETIRED! That means those storms were so destructive and/or deadly that those names will never be used again to identify tropical systems in the future.

Now, once we move past the secondary peak of hurricane season in October, the number of storms drops off quickly for the rest of the season as ocean temperatures in the Atlantic cool down and wind shear increases.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially ends on Nov. 30, so let's stay alert. We have several weeks to go before this busy season wraps up.

Stay with your NBC10 Boston First Alert weather team for further updates about hurricane season.