When Is Hurricane Season? Dates, Peak, and What They Really Mean

The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30. The Eastern Pacific season starts earlier, on May 15, and ends the same day. The dates aren't laws of physics — they're the window that historically contains about 97% of tropical cyclone activity. Storms can and occasionally do form outside it.

The season is not flat

Activity climbs slowly through June and July, accelerates sharply in August, and reaches its statistical peak on September 10, when the ingredients — peak ocean heat, low shear, and waves rolling off Africa — align most often. Roughly two-thirds of Atlantic activity happens between mid-August and mid-October. November storms are uncommon but not rare, and they tend to form in the western Caribbean.

What the calendar means in practice

• June–July: storms most often form close to home — the Gulf and western Atlantic — meaning short warning times despite the "quiet" reputation.
• August–October: the long-track Cape Verde storms with days of warning, plus peak intensity potential. This is the window that produces most major hurricanes.
• Preparation: the time to build a plan is before August, not when a storm has a name. Supplies, documents, and an evacuation route decided in calm weather are worth more than anything done in a warning's 36-hour window (see watch vs. warning).

During the season, our Tropical Weather Outlook page tracks every area the National Hurricane Center is watching, updated four times daily with what changed between issuances — and the season archive lets you compare this year to the last decade storm by storm.