The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season is moving deeper into the record books, with the basin still waiting for its first hurricane more than four months after the season began.
As of Oct. 2, eight named storms have developed in the Atlantic this year, but none has reached hurricane strength, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The storms — Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo and Hanna — all remained tropical storms. By this point in an average season, the Atlantic would have recorded about five hurricanes, including two major hurricanes.
The lack of hurricanes has put 2026 within reach of another historic milestone. The season could break a 121-year-old record associated with the exceptionally quiet 1905 Atlantic hurricane season.
The current season has already set a modern-era record for going the latest into the year without producing its first hurricane. Satellite monitoring of the Atlantic began in 1966, making storms much easier to detect than during the early 1900s, when systems over open water could have gone unobserved.
The quiet season is particularly unusual because the Atlantic has already passed the climatological peak of hurricane activity, which occurs around Sept. 10.
A strengthening El Niño has played a major role in suppressing activity.
El Niño typically increases upper-level winds over the Atlantic, producing wind shear that can disrupt developing tropical systems and prevent them from strengthening into hurricanes.
NOAA had already revised its outlook in August, predicting a 75% chance of a below-normal Atlantic season. At the time, forecasters projected seven to 13 named storms, including two to six hurricanes and up to two major hurricanes.
The season has so far fallen well below normal hurricane activity. The National Hurricane Center reported that accumulated cyclone energy, or ACE, stood at 10.8 as of Oct. 2 — about 89% below the 1991-2020 normal for this point in the season.
ACE measures the combined strength and duration of tropical storms and hurricanes and is commonly used to assess the overall activity of a hurricane season.
The Atlantic could reach an even rarer milestone if the season ends without producing a hurricane.
Only two seasons in the historical record — 1907 and 1914 — are listed as having produced no hurricanes. However, hurricane records from that period are considered less complete because satellites and other modern observation systems did not exist.
Despite the historically quiet conditions, residents across the Caribbean and other hurricane-prone areas are still being urged to remain prepared.
October can produce dangerous hurricanes, including systems that develop closer to the Caribbean and surrounding waters, and a quiet season does not eliminate the possibility of a late-season storm.
The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.
This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Atlantic Could Break 121-Year Record If No Hurricane Forms by October 8.