2018 Atlantic hurricane season

Season overview

By the site's count, 16 systems were tracked in 2018, and 15 of them reached tropical storm strength. Eight became hurricanes, two reached major hurricane strength and one, Michael, reached Category 5. The season's accumulated cyclone energy of 132.6 units sat well above the 1981 to 2010 normal range of roughly 66 to 103 units, and the named storm and hurricane totals also beat the long-term averages of about 12 and 6. The National Hurricane Center's own best track produces the same headline counts.

Most seasonal outlooks leaned low. Cooler than normal water in the tropical Atlantic and an expected El Niño led several groups to trim their numbers through early summer, with some forecasts falling to nine named storms. The El Niño never developed in time to suppress activity, sea surface temperatures warmed and the west African monsoon was stronger than usual, and the season ended up exceeding most predictions.

Many of the year's storms began life far from the deep tropics. A record seven systems were classified as subtropical cyclones at some point, including Alberto, Debby, Ernesto, Joyce, Leslie and Oscar, which is why several tracks on the map start at high latitudes in the open Atlantic.

How the season unfolded

Alberto took shape in the northwestern Caribbean in late May, days before the official June 1 start, making 2018 the fourth straight season with a storm before June. It became fully tropical on May 28 and came ashore in the Florida Panhandle as a tropical storm. June then passed without a single storm.

July brought two hurricanes. Beryl, a tiny storm with a pinhole eye, became a hurricane on July 6 well east of the Lesser Antilles, the second earliest hurricane on record in the main development region between Africa and the Caribbean. Chris formed off the Carolinas, drifted for days over cool upwelled water, then raced northeast and briefly became a Category 2 hurricane before turning extratropical. August produced only two short-lived storms, Debby and Ernesto, both in the far north Atlantic.

September was the busiest month by far. Florence formed near the Cabo Verde Islands on August 31, Gordon brushed South Florida and struck the northern Gulf Coast, and Helene, Isaac and Joyce followed. For several days around mid-month Florence, Helene, Isaac and Joyce were active together, the first time four named storms had coexisted in the Atlantic since 2008. Kirk became a named storm at 8.1°N in late September, the lowest latitude for an Atlantic tropical storm since 1902, before crossing St. Lucia.

October featured Leslie, the season's longest-lived system, which wandered across the subtropical Atlantic for about three weeks before turning toward Iberia, along with Michael and the short-lived Nadine. After a two-week lull, Oscar grew from a subtropical storm into a Category 2 hurricane in the central Atlantic and became extratropical on October 31, closing the season with no November storms.

Strongest storms

Michael was the strongest storm of the year and also produced the lowest pressure. It developed south of Cozumel on October 7 from a disturbance that had absorbed Kirk's remnants, intensified quickly as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico and was still strengthening when it came ashore near Mexico Beach on October 10. Sustained winds of 140 kt and a central pressure of 919 hPa were recorded at 17:30 UTC that day, placing its peak at landfall rather than out at sea.

Florence was the only other major hurricane. It reached Category 4 unusually far to the northeast on September 5, weakened sharply in wind shear, then intensified again over warmer water and peaked at 130 kt with a pressure of 937 hPa on September 11 while heading for the Carolinas. By landfall it had weakened to a Category 1 hurricane with estimated winds of 80 kt.

Helene and Oscar each peaked at 95 kt, just short of major hurricane strength. Helene became a hurricane unusually far east near the African coast before recurving past the Azores toward the British Isles, while Oscar strengthened late in October over the open central Atlantic.

Notable landfalls and impacts

Florence came ashore near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, on September 14 and then slowed almost to a stop, drawing rain bands in from the Atlantic over the same areas for days. A total of 35.93 inches fell near Elizabethtown, a North Carolina record for a tropical cyclone, and South Carolina also set a state rainfall record. The National Hurricane Center attributes 22 direct deaths in the United States to Florence, plus 30 indirect deaths, and the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information estimate about $24 billion in damage in 2018 dollars.

Michael's winds and storm surge devastated Mexico Beach, where 1,584 of the town's 1,692 buildings were reported damaged and 809 destroyed, and damaged every building at Tyndall Air Force Base. Destructive winds carried inland across southwest Georgia and southeastern Alabama. The National Hurricane Center counts 16 direct deaths in the United States and 43 indirect deaths in Florida, puts US damage at about $25 billion in 2018 dollars, and cites media reports of 15 direct deaths from flooding in Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador caused by Michael's precursor disturbance.

Earlier in the year, Alberto's rains reached far inland, and flooding, mudslides and falling trees caused eight direct deaths in North Carolina and Virginia, with damage estimated near $125 million in 2018 dollars. Gordon made landfall near the Alabama and Mississippi border on September 5 just below hurricane strength; a falling tree near Pensacola caused one direct death, and flooding from its remnant moisture in Kentucky and Missouri claimed three more lives.

Europe felt the end of the season. Leslie prompted the first tropical storm warning ever issued for Madeira, then struck Portugal as a powerful extratropical cyclone on October 13, cutting power to hundreds of thousands of homes. One person died from a falling tree in Portugal, and moisture from its remnants fed deadly flooding in southern France.

Records and retired names

Michael was the first hurricane to strike the United States at Category 5 intensity since Andrew in 1992. It is the strongest landfall on record in the Florida Panhandle, only the second known Category 5 landfall on the northern Gulf Coast and the latest in the year that a Category 5 hurricane has struck the United States. Its arrival also made 2018 the third consecutive season with at least one Category 5 hurricane.

The World Meteorological Organization retired the names Florence and Michael in March 2019 because of the deaths and damage they caused. Francine and Milton replaced them on the list, which was next used in 2024.