2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season (Kat)

The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season was a devastating hurricane season that included several major hurricanes. It produced thirty tropical depressions, twenty-six tropical storms, sixteen hurricanes, and seven major hurricanes. Though the season officially started on June first, the first system, Hurricane Arlene, formed on the nineteenth day of February, before the season officially started. The NCH predicted that it would be an above average season with 19 storms forming, 10 reaching hurricane status and3-5 becoming major hurricanes. The strongest storm of the season, Katia, reached Category five strength and was one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Other notable hurricanes included Maya and Harry, two category three hurricanes that took the same path and peaked at 117 mph (188 kph), Hurricane Bret which peaked at 100 mph (161 kph) in May. Hurricane Tammy formed in September as a category four hurricane, while hurricane Vince was deadly category five. The second worst hurricane of the season was Ophelia and while it was only a category one hurricane, it produced extensive flooding and an unpredicted storm surge. Emily reached category five in June and produced extensive damage to Mexico, whereas Sean reached category four and struck multiple islands.

Hurricane Arlene
On February 19th, 2023 a cluster of thunderstorms formed into a tropical depression in the North Atlantic Ocean. Over the course of the next few hours, those clouds went under rapid intensification and became a tropical storm. The storm stayed as a tropical storm as it made its way west through the Atlantic, yet on February 23rd, it merged with thunderclouds off the course of Costa Rica, adding energy to the dying storm. Arlene formed into a category one hurricane and on February 24th, it struck Costa Rica. This rapidly made Arlene lose strength and by February 25th, it became a tropical depression. Arlene made it back out to sea but was unable to gain any strength, becoming a remnant low on February 26th.

Hurricane Bret
On May 5th 2023, the NHC started monitoring a wave off of the African coast. It started developing an eye and on May 7th, they noted that it became subtropical and continued developing characteristics of a hurricane. At 05:00 UTC May 9th, forecasters noted that it formed a defined eye and was strengthening rapidly. The same day, they noted that it had wind speeds of 75 mph. On May 11th, it struck Bermuda as a category 2 hurricane. This weakened the hurricane and on May 12th, it weakened back to a tropical storm. It became extratropical storm on May 14th and dissipated the following day.