The Pacific is ablaze while the Atlantic cannot produce a single hurricane: the mystery of the 2026 hurricane season

Eight tropical storms and no hurricanes: the Atlantic is experiencing its quietest season since satellite records began, while the Pacific is racking up Category 5 monsters. What is behind this unprecedented situation?

If someone had told you in June that we would reach October without a single hurricane in the Atlantic, you would probably have taken it as a meteorologist’s joke. But here we are: the 2026 season has already produced eight tropical storms, and none has crossed the 119 km/h wind speed threshold required to be classified as a hurricane.

In a normal year, by this point there would already have been around five hurricanes, two of them Category 3 or higher.

Meanwhile, the Pacific is experiencing a cyclone bonanza: 20 named storms and three Category 5 hurricanes, matching the record. Hawaii was hit by Lala, Lowell and Nolo, while Polo reached 290 km/h winds off Mexico. How can one ocean be on fire while the other remains silent?

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