Meteorologist Mariangelis Marrero of the National Weather Service (NWS) told El Nuevo Día that the Atlantic hurricane basin remains unusually quiet this September, and if no new storm forms before month’s end, 2026 could break the record for the least active September, set in 1914. If low storm formation continues through the rest of the season, 2026 could also approach 1914’s record as the least active season overall.
Marrero cautioned that comprehensive cyclone data only became reliable starting in 1966 with the satellite era, before which detection relied mainly on observations. In the satellite era, the latest first hurricane of a season formed on September 11, with Humberto (2013) and Gustav (2002). Marrero stressed the season isn’t over and that monitoring must continue, with confirmation of a possible monthly record only possible after September 30.
She attributed part of the quiet season to a strengthening El Niño in the Pacific, which NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center says has a greater than 90% chance of reaching very strong intensity during fall and winter 2026-27 in the northern hemisphere.