CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Atlantic hurricane season is six months long, running from June through November.
The hurricane season usually has a slow start, with activity being fairly sparse, and primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, or the Southeast US coast, where the gulf stream brings warmer water from the gulf.
Warm-enough water is one of the keys to tropical development, and the Gulf of Mexico tends to heat up the quickest and earliest.
With the Coastal Bend sitting on the gulf, early-season activity in the western gulf shouldn't come as a surprise if it were to happen.
July tends to be another slow month, with the most-likely development areas again found in the gulf, and up the Southeast US.
Hanna struck South Texas in late July 2020.
In August, things start to heat up – literally -- as more water gets into the 80-degree-and-above range and we begin to see more development farther out in the Atlantic, and longer track storms.
September is considered the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season.
This is when sea-surface temperatures are at their warmest, and the atmosphere tends to be the most favorable for tropical development.
The gulf, Caribbean, and Atlantic can be active, and this is when longer track storms are more common.
October is a tricky month in hurricane season -- things start to cool down and cold fronts begin to move farther south. This can deflect storms away from the US; Still, the western Caribbean and eastern gulf can be prime real estate for tropical systems.
Notably, there is no record of a hurricane striking Texas after Oct. 16.
November is the season finale, and it usually goes out with a whimper. A few Caribbean or southwestern Atlantic storms are possible, but activity really diminishes in November.
By the end of an average hurricane season, 14 named storms, seven hurricanes, and three major hurricanes will have come and gone.
As always, remember, it only takes one storm to change your life.