Overview
- Final tallies show 13 named storms, five hurricanes and four major hurricanes, including three Category 5s—the second‑most on record—with seasonwide energy slightly above average.
- Tropical Storm Chantal was the only U.S. landfalling system and its flooding was linked to at least six deaths, while offshore hurricanes drove dangerous surf, erosion and coastal damage along parts of the East Coast.
- Hurricane Melissa struck southwestern Jamaica as a Category 5 with 185 mph winds, causing at least 45 deaths there, tying strongest‑at‑landfall benchmarks and producing a record 252 mph dropsonde gust.
- Meteorologists cite a persistent East Coast trough, a weakened Bermuda High and a Fujiwhara interaction between Humberto and Imelda as key factors that curved storms away from the mainland.
- Outcomes largely matched NOAA’s preseason ranges, and NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters—augmented by uncrewed surface vehicles and extensive dropsonde data—supplied observations that aided intensity forecasts.