Hurricanes in August

Q: How many hurricanes happen in August?

Across the 1851 to 2025 HURDAT2 record, 448 named storms have been active in August in the Atlantic basin, 257 of them at hurricane strength during the month. Counting only the modern record (1944 on, when aircraft reconnaissance began), August averages about 3.2 named storms active per year.

Q: Has a hurricane ever hit the US in August?

Yes: NOAA's landfall list records 83 August hurricane landfall events on the continental US, 33 of them major (Category 3 or higher). The most recent is Debby in 2024. The full list, with states and categories, is on this page.

Q: Is August early or late in hurricane season?

The season runs June 1 to November 30 and peaks on September 10, per NHC. August is when the Atlantic changes character.

Q: Is there a storm right now?

The panel near the top of this page republishes the latest NHC public advisories and outlook, verbatim and timestamped. The National Hurricane Center at nhc.noaa.gov publishes every active system, forecast, watch and warning, and decisions belong with it and with your local emergency management agency.

What 175 years of NOAA records show about August in the Atlantic: how much forms, what has hit the US, and where the month sits in the season.

August is part of the official Atlantic season, June 1 to November 30. Anything live belongs to the National Hurricane Center.

Named storms active in August

448

At hurricane strength

257

US hurricane landfalls

Is there a storm anywhere right now? Go to the National Hurricane Center.

The panel just below republishes the National Hurricane Center’s own latest advisories and outlook, verbatim and timestamped. Tracks, cones and forecasts are the National Hurricane Center’s. If a storm is active or approaching, NHC is the source of official forecasts and warnings, and your emergency management agency is the source of evacuation and shelter decisions.

National Hurricane Center for current storms, forecasts, watches, and warnings
Your state emergency management agency for evacuation orders and shelter information
Ready.gov hurricane preparedness for how to prepare, in FEMA’s own words

“It only takes one hurricane (or tropical storm) to cause a disaster.” NOAA Climate Prediction Center

What NHC is saying right now

Republished verbatim from the National Hurricane Center via the National Weather Service API, with NHC’s own issuance times. For anything that matters, read it at nhc.noaa.gov where it is always current.

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August in the Atlantic record

1851 to 2025, NOAA HURDAT2

448

named storms active in August

whole record, storm months

263

since aircraft recon began

1944 on, about 3.2 per year

257

months with hurricane strength

whole record

US hurricane landfall events

every August strike in NOAA's list

August is when the Atlantic changes character. The Cape Verde season opens, with tropical waves leaving Africa and crossing thousands of miles of warm water, and activity climbs steeply toward the September peak. NHC's averages put the first hurricane of a typical season in early to mid August.

The numbers

How busy August actually is

The chart shows every month for comparison, from the same HURDAT2 record; August’s column is the one to read. Because ship reports missed storms in the early record, the comparison to use is the modern one: since 1944, August has averaged about 3.2 named storms active per year.

NHC's August origin map lights up along the main development region, the belt of tropical Atlantic between Africa and the Caribbean, alongside continued Gulf and Caribbean genesis. See NHC’s monthly origin and track maps.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

117

Jun

147

Jul

448

Aug

714

Sep

426

Oct

121

Nov

Dec

Named storms active by calendar month, Atlantic basin, 1851 to 2025. Derived from NOAA HURDAT2; a storm active in two months counts once in each.

The eye of Hurricane Katrina photographed from inside by a NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft, a stadium of cloud around clear blue sky — Inside the eye of Hurricane Katrina from a NOAA WP-3D hurricane hunter, August 2005. Aircraft reconnaissance began in 1944, which is why the modern per year averages on this page start there rather than 1851. “Hurricane Katrina Eye viewed from Hurricane Hunter” — NOAA — Public domain

The receipts

Every August hurricane to hit the United States

From NOAA AOML’s continental US landfall list: every hurricane whose August landfall brought hurricane conditions to at least one state. The strongest are highlighted; the list scrolls.

Year	Name	Highest US category	States affected	Pressure
2024	Debby	Cat 1	Florida	982 mb
2023	Idalia	Cat 3	Florida, Georgia	950 mb
2021	Ida	Cat 4	Louisiana	931 mb
2020	Laura	Cat 4	Texas, Louisiana	939 mb
2020	Isaias	Cat 1	South Carolina, North Carolina	986 mb
2017	Harvey	Cat 4	Texas	937 mb
2012	Isaac	Cat 1	Louisiana	966 mb
2011	Irene	Cat 1	North Carolina	952 mb
2005	Katrina	Cat 3	Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida	920 mb
2004	Charley	Cat 4	Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina	941 mb
2004	Gaston	Cat 1	South Carolina	985 mb
2004	Alex	Cat 1	North Carolina	972 mb
1999	Bret	Cat 3	Texas	951 mb
1998	Bonnie	Cat 2	North Carolina	964 mb
1995	Erin	Cat 2	Florida	973 mb
1993	Emily	Cat 3	North Carolina	961 mb
1992	Andrew	Cat 5	Louisiana, Florida	922 mb
1991	Bob	Cat 2	New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts	962 mb
1989	Chantal	Cat 1	Texas	986 mb
1986	Charley	Cat 1	North Carolina	990 mb
1985	Danny	Cat 1	Louisiana	987 mb
1983	Alicia	Cat 3	Texas	962 mb
1980	Allen	Cat 3	Texas	945 mb
1976	Belle	Cat 1	New York	980 mb
1970	Celia	Cat 4	Texas	944 mb
1969	Camille	Cat 5	Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama	900 mb
1964	Cleo	Cat 2	Florida	968 mb
1955	Connie	Cat 2	North Carolina, Virginia	962 mb
1954	Carol	Cat 3	North Carolina, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts	955 mb
1953	Barbara	Cat 1	North Carolina	975 mb
1952	Able	Cat 2	South Carolina	980 mb
1950	Baker	Cat 1	Alabama, Florida	979 mb
1949	Unnamed	Cat 4	Florida, Georgia	954 mb
1949	Unnamed	Cat 1	North Carolina	977 mb
1947	Unnamed	Cat 1	Texas	984 mb
1945	Unnamed	Cat 3	Texas	963 mb
1944	Unnamed	Cat 1	North Carolina	985 mb
1942	Unnamed	Cat 1	Texas	992 mb
1942	Unnamed	Cat 3	Texas	950 mb
1940	Unnamed	Cat 2	Texas, Louisiana	972 mb
1940	Unnamed	Cat 2	Georgia, South Carolina	972 mb
1939	Unnamed	Cat 1	Florida	985 mb
1938	Unnamed	Cat 1	Louisiana	995 mb
1933	Unnamed	Cat 1	North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland	963 mb
1932	Freeport	Cat 4	Texas	935 mb
1928	Unnamed	Cat 2	Florida	977 mb
1926	Unnamed	Cat 3	Louisiana	955 mb
1924	Unnamed	Cat 1	North Carolina, Massachusetts	963 mb
1918	Unnamed	Cat 3	Texas, Louisiana	955 mb
1918	Unnamed	Cat 1	North Carolina	988 mb
1916	Unnamed	Cat 4	Texas	932 mb
1915	Galveston	Cat 4	Texas, Louisiana	940 mb
1915	Unnamed	Cat 1	Florida	990 mb
1911	Unnamed	Cat 1	Alabama, Florida	982 mb
1911	Unnamed	Cat 2	Georgia, South Carolina	972 mb
1909	Unnamed	Cat 1	Texas	955 mb
1901	Unnamed	Cat 1	Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama	973 mb
1899	Unnamed	Cat 2	Florida	979 mb
1899	Unnamed	Cat 3	North Carolina	945 mb
1898	Unnamed	Cat 1	Florida	982 mb
1898	Unnamed	Cat 1	Georgia, South Carolina	980 mb
1895	Unnamed	Cat 1	Texas	963 mb
1893	Sea Islands	Cat 3	Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina	954 mb
1893	Midnight Storm	Cat 1	New York, Connecticut	986 mb
1891	Unnamed	Cat 1	Florida	985 mb
1888	Unnamed	Cat 3	Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida	945 mb
1887	Unnamed	Cat 1	North Carolina	946 mb
1886	Indianola	Cat 4	Texas	925 mb
1885	Unnamed	Cat 2	Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina	970 mb
1881	Unnamed	Cat 2	Georgia, South Carolina	970 mb
1880	Unnamed	Cat 3	Texas	931 mb
1880	Unnamed	Cat 2	Florida	972 mb
1879	Unnamed	Cat 2	Texas, Louisiana	964 mb
1879	Unnamed	Cat 3	North Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts	971 mb
1871	Unnamed	Cat 3	Florida	955 mb
1871	Unnamed	Cat 2	Florida	965 mb
1869	Lower Texas Coast	Cat 2	Texas	965 mb
1861	Key West	Cat 1	Florida	978 mb
1860	Unnamed	Cat 3	Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama	945 mb
1856	Last Island	Cat 4	Louisiana	934 mb
1856	Southeastern States	Cat 2	Alabama, Florida, Georgia	965 mb
1852	Great Mobile	Cat 3	Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida	961 mb
1851	Great Middle Florida	Cat 3	Florida, Georgia	955 mb

How complete is this record?

“Because of the sparseness of towns and cities before 1900 in some coastal locations along the United States, the above list is not complete for all states. Before the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts became settled, hurricanes may have been underestimated in their intensity or missed completely for small-sized systems (i.e., 2004's Hurricane Charley).”NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Hurricane Research Division, source

Satellite image of Hurricane Hugo, a large hurricane with a clear eye, approaching the southeastern United States — Hurricane Hugo from NOAA's polar orbiting satellite, September 21, 1989. Hugo's Category 4 South Carolina landfall is one of the August entries in the table above. “Hugo 1989-09-21 1844Z” — NOAA Satellite and Information Service — Public domain

In context

Where August sits in the season

The season’s shape is set by NOAA’s own dates and peak:

“The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.”National Hurricane Center, source

“The peak of the Atlantic hurricane season is September 10, with most activity occurring between mid-August and mid-October.”National Hurricane Center, source

Satellite image of Hurricane Iniki, a compact hurricane with a clear eye, southwest of the Hawaiian Islands — Hurricane Iniki from NOAA’s GOES satellite, September 11, 1992, with the Hawaiian Islands visible at upper right. The central Pacific runs the same June to November season as the Atlantic, on its own climatology. “Iniki 1992-09-11 1931Z” — NOAA (GOES-7), NASA — Public domain

GOES satellite image of Hurricane Katrina filling the Gulf, its eye southeast of the Louisiana coast — Hurricane Katrina from NOAA’s GOES-12 satellite on August 28, 2005, the day before its Gulf coast landfall. The Naval Research Laboratory annotations date the frame. August and September together account for the majority of all Atlantic hurricane activity in the record. “Katrina 2005-08-28 2245Z” — U.S. Navy / Naval Research Laboratory — Public domain

Common questions

Hurricanes in August: FAQ

How many hurricanes happen in August?

Has a hurricane ever hit the US in August?

Is August early or late in hurricane season?

Where do August storms usually form?

Is there a storm right now?

Keep reading

The rest of the season

Hurricane season by state

Counts derived from NOAA HURDAT2 (hurdat2-1851-2025-02272026.txt) and NOAA AOML’s continental US hurricane landfall list (Revised in March 2026 to add in the 2025 season). For anything current: nhc.noaa.gov.