Are Any Atlantic Tropical Storms Coming This August?

August is typically when the Atlantic hurricane season starts heating up as it races toward its peak in mid-September. However, there is a chance that this underperforming season could not see any named August storms. Here is a look at what the long-range forecast is telling us about what to expect, as well as what history tells us about the chance of no named storms in August.

When Could the Next Tropical Weather Maker Form in the Atlantic?

All has been quiet in the Atlantic this first week of August. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is not expecting any new tropical storms or hurricanes to develop in the next few days. The last time that a named storm roamed this basin was Tropical Storm Bertha on July 24.

You have to go back to 2022 to find the last time that there were no named tropical weather events in the Atlantic throughout the entire month of August. Should no named features ignite this month, it would only be the fourth time since 1961 that this has happened.

While August was calm in 1961, the season as a whole was busy. That year featured 12 named storms, eight of which evolved into hurricanes. Of those eight, two reached the top Category 5 level.

1997 was another year that did not experience any August tropical activity. The calm August was a continuation of the overall docile season that bore only eight storms. The most powerful storm that year was Category 3 Hurricane Erika, coming to life in September.

Could 2026 go down in the history books as one of the least active seasons ever in the Atlantic? The intensification of El Niño and frequent intrusions of Saharan dust clouds are creating hostile conditions across the basin, a trend that is forecast to continue through the end of the season.

The least active Atlantic hurricane season since the satellite era began in 1966 happened in 1983. Only four storms were produced that year. The years 1997, 1982, and 1986 all saw just six named storms each.

Forecasters at the NHC believe that there is a chance that some activity could erupt in the eastern Gulf or the southwestern Atlantic between August 8 and 15. The expectation of one or two stalled frontal boundaries paired with low wind shear could support the development of tropical weather concerns in this part of the basin. Despite El Niño's mitigating presence, the warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures could result in a storm that intensifies quickly close to land.