2017 Atlantic hurricane season (Hyperactive version)

By: Sassmaster15

The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season was the third-most active Atlantic hurricane season on record, surpassed by only 2005 and the previous year. The season was highly active, producing 24 total tropical cyclones, 22 named storms, fourteen hurricanes, and eight major hurricanes. In addition to producing the third-highest recorded number of named storms within an Atlantic hurricane season, the number of hurricanes was the third-highest on record, with the season responsible for the second-highest total of major hurricanes ever recorded. Several records were broken throughout the course of the year. Several storms were notable, mainly seven of the eight major hurricanes - Emily, Harvey, Katia, Lee, Ophelia, Rina, and Whitney. In addition, Category 1 Hurricane Tammy was the worst cyclone to strike Nicaragua on record. The most damaging effects of the season were felt along the East Coast of the United States, where Hurricane Emily struck South Carolina at nearly Category 5 intensity. Florida suffered massive devastation from three hurricanes - two of which were consecutive major hurricane landfalls. Central America and Mexico were each struck at least twice by tropical cyclones this year. The United States saw an unusually high number of landfalling hurricanes - with at least eight different hurricanes making landfall at least once somewhere along the country - surpassing the previous year. The calendar year 2017 also saw Tropical Storm Delta, which formed in late December 2016 and persisted until January 8, 2017, the latest such dissipation date for an Atlantic tropical cyclone on record.

The official bounds of tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic are June 1st to November 30th, though the season saw activity both before and after these dates. A total of twenty-two named storms formed in 2017 - an above-average number attributed to a strong La Niña in the East Pacific, which produces very favorable conditions in the Atlantic basin. Of these storms, fourteen became hurricanes, while a further eight intensified to major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-simpson scale). Of these, seven became Category 4 hurricanes - the highest seasonal total tied with 2016. In addition, a record-tying four became Category 5 hurricanes, the highest categorization for tropical cyclones according to the Saffir-simpson scale. Only 2005 and 2016 observed such an amount of hurricanes of this intensity. Among these was Hurricane Rina, the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record. Another unusual feat with this season was the main list of names becoming exhausted, with one letter in the Greek alphabet requiring use, respectively.

Overview
Main Article: List of Storms in the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season

May
In early May, tropical cyclogenesis began with a disturbance off the coast of Florida. Tracking generally northward, the disturbance gradually intensified to Tropical Storm Arlene - the first named storm of the season. Arlene later made landfall in southeast North Carolina as a strong tropical storm on May 10 - the earliest landfalling pre-season storm in the United States on record, surpassing the record set by Tropical Storm Ana of 2015. Arlene made a second landfall in Long Island, New York as a weaker storm, later turning extratropical the same day. Several weeks later, Tropical Storm Bret formed in the Gulf of Mexico. Upon being assigned a name, Bret was the first occurrence of two pre-season tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic since 2012. Bret later attained winds of 65 miles per hour and made landfall near Tampa, Florida as a slightly weaker storm that caused heavy wind damage and a tornado outbreak across central Florida. Bret compounded the damage caused by Hurricane Hermine the previous year, which had significant impacts across much of central Florida.

June
After a short respite in activity, a tropical wave emerged off the coast of Africa. Firing deep convection, the wave later intensified to a tropical storm over the open Atlantic, intensifying to Hurricane Cindy over the Bahamas. Shortly after, Cindy struck Miami, Florida with winds of 70 miles per hour. Causing problems with heavy rain and high winds, Cindy briefly re-attained hurricane status over the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall as a minimal hurricane in Pensacola, Florida, which was still recovering from Hurricane Walter the previous year.

July
After going dormant for several weeks, a tropical wave in the Bay of Campeche began to undergo development into a tropical cyclone. This would eventually strengthen to Tropical Storm Don, a near hurricane-force tropical storm. Less than twelve hours after attaining peak, Don made landfall in Veracruz as a slightly weaker system with 65 mph winds. Drenching the entire state, over 1,000 people were displaced following severe destruction caused by a widespread and raging flash flood that affected the majority of the state.