August Hurricane Climatology

August is known to provide a favorable environment for tropical development as light winds dominate the atmosphere’s upper-levels and ocean water temperatures tend to be the warmest. Disturbances, also called tropical waves, moving off the west coast of Africa, have a much easier time holding together while moving westward toward the Caribbean and the United States.

On average, only two named storms develop in the Atlantic before August 1st arrives.

It was quite an active month in 2021, which saw the formation of seven named storms between August 11th and the 31st. This includes the late-month formation of Major Hurricane Ida, which peaked as a Category 4 hurricane when it made landfall in Louisiana on August 29th.
 

August normally sees three new named storms form. Any storms that do form this month will likely develop in three regions of the Atlantic basin - the Gulf of Mexico and northern Caribbean, the area of the central Atlantic east of the Lesser Antilles, and the western Atlantic stretching from the Bahamas northward along Florida and up to the Carolinas.
 

In the past, August has been notorious for some of the strongest and most damaging hurricanes. Hurricane Carol ravaged Long Island and New England on August 31, 1954 as a Category 2 storm, while in 1992 Hurricane Andrew hit Florida as a Category 5 storm on August 23. Perhaps the best known, and certainly the most destructive to the U.S., was Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and the central Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005.
 

Be sure to download the WeatherBug app to stay up to date on the latest tropical forecasts.