Nearly two years to the day remnants of Hurricane Helene brought arguably the worst natural disaster in North Carolina history, the Atlantic hurricane season was yet to have its first through Monday – snapping a 112-year-old record.
For the week ahead, the tropics remain quiet. Still possible is a season with no hurricanes, previously recorded only in 1914 and 1907. The season ends Nov. 30.
For context, records from olden days are nowhere near as complete as today. The satellite era began in 1966, and before that storms far from land might only have been seen by passing ships.
Sept. 10 passed as the peak time for named storms and hurricanes to be in formation. This was the third consecutive Labor Day weekend without a named storm somewhere in the Atlantic.
Six to nine hurricanes were forecast this year in the Atlantic Basin hurricane season from June 1 to Nov. 30 by two leading authorities.
At N.C. State University, the Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences teamed with the Department of Computer Science projected six to nine from 12 to 15 named storms, with two to three deemed major. At Colorado State University, the Department of Atmospheric Science predicts six hurricanes from 13 named storms, with two likely major.
The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season was remarkable as the first since 2015 with none making landfall. Erin in August brought significant coastal damage along the East Coast, and Tropical Storm Chantal was the lone system making landfall when it damaged the Carolinas in July.
Erin, Gabrielle, Humberto and Melissa were major hurricanes, and Imelda was the fifth hurricane of the season. Thirteen storms earned names.
Two years ago, Hurricane Helene was a Category 4 monster when it slammed into the Big Bend region of Florida on a Thursday night – that state’s third hurricane in 66 days. By weekend, it was into the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, a rare occurrence for tropical storms and one which produced catastrophic death, destruction and flooding.
Simple contour of the land contributed to rushing currents, a devastation very unlike coastal hurricane flooding where water doesn’t rush as much as it rises – especially via river basins from the middle of the state flowing to the ocean. Some mountain spots in North Carolina got more than 30 inches of rain in as many hours or less.
The storm killed 108 in the state, 237 in the South, and caused an estimated $60 billion to $80 billion in damage in North Carolina. Recovery is ongoing, better in some places, poor in others. New state laws have been enacted based in part on what happened in the aftermath.
Republican majority chambers in the General Assembly have appropriated more than $2.8 billion to recovery efforts through five spending packages and the fiscal year 2027 spending plan. The 2026 Appropriations Act, known also as Senate Bill 257 and signed into law this summer, brought Hurricane Helene relief of $700 million and added $450 million to the Savings Reserve in the General Fund – often called the rainy day fund – to lift its balance to more than $4.2 billion.
In combination with a December 2024 aversion of government shutdown, Congress appropriated about $9 billion of a $110 billion relief package for North Carolina’s recovery. Then-President Joe Biden signed the deal on Dec. 21.
