2017 Atlantic hurricane season (Hyperactive WMHB)

The 2017 What-might-have-been Atlantic hurricane season is an hyperactive, costliest, and the deadliest season ever recorded worldwide. It consists of 28 named storms, 22 hurricanes, and 13 major hurricanes, with 6 being Category 5s. It is by far the costliest hurricane season on record, causing over $5 trillion in damages, which is also considered as costliest disaster worldwide. It also decimated a lot of states, like Florida, due to Hurricane Rita, and the East Coast, due to Hurricane Whitney. It is also the deadliest hurricane season, and one of the deadliest worldwide.

The season officially began on June 1 and ended on November 30. These dates historically describe the period of year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. However, as shown by Hurricane Arlene in April, the formation of tropical cyclones is possible at other times of the year. At July, Hurricane Ghita hit areas of Guyana, Venezuela and later Dominica as a strong hurricane, causing mass death toll. Hurricane Jonas is a weak major hurricane, causing some damage in Mexico. Hurricane Maria caused a lot of deaths in Central America, and later devastated Texas and Louisiana. The "triple megas", which are Hurricane Rita, Seth and Taylor. The former caused unexpected damage, and it later grow up to a really huge hurricane, and also considered as the most intense and strongest winds on record. It also brought Florida to rubble. The second one didn't cause as much damage, but feared upon by most people. The latter caused huge damage in Mexico. Hurricane Whitney, known as "Hypercane Whitney" by the public, is the most devastating hurricane of all time. It also brought the East Coast to ruins, displacing people in areas such as New York. Hurricane Beta caused a lot of damage in Louisiana, with Category 5 winds. Hurricane Gamma caused unusual impact in Western Europe, causing a lot of damage.The last storm of the season is Hurricane Eta, which moved inside the Mediterranean Sea and classified as 'medicane'.

Season summary
The Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 2017. Among the busiest on record, the season produced twenty-eight tropical depressions, all of which further intensified into tropical storms. twenty-two hurricanes were recorded. Thirteen of the twenty-two hurricanes further strengthened into major hurricanes. Unlike the pattern of previous years that acted to steer many tropical cyclones harmlessly into the open Atlantic, 2017 featured a pattern conducive for landfalls; in fact, the season culminated into many separate landfalls by Atlantic named storms. Almost 50,000 deaths were recorded while total damage reached over $5 trillion, making the 2017 season as the costliest in recorded history.

April, May and June
Two months before the official hurricane season started, Hurricane Arlene formed as a subtropical depression, later becoming a subtropical storm, and later, a full tropical hurricane. It remained away from land, causing no impact. Arlene is also one of the few rare hurricanes to exist in April.

Tropical Storm Bret is another short-lived off-season storm, but in this case, it formed as full tropical. Bret caused some flooding in Gulf Cost, but the effects were not severe.

Eighteen days after the official start of the season, Hurricane Collette is another unusual South American-impacting hurricane. It impacted the areas of Guyana, French Guiana and Venezuela as minimal hurricane. It caused almost $600 million in damages and 89 deaths.

Hurricane Dennis is the next hurricane, which peaked at Category 2. It formed as a tropical wave, peaked intensity and hits Texas at it's peak. It caused a lot of damage, through wide-scale flooding. It caused almost $800 million damage.

July
The third hurricane of the season, Hurricane Emma, is a Category 2 hurricane which affected areas such as Caribbean and later, New England. It caused rough waves in all areas it affected, and it caused moderate damage.

Tropical Storm Ford is another weak tropical cyclone which affected the Cuba and Floridan coastline. It only caused rough waters and not much impact is caused.

The first major hurricane of the season, Hurricane Ghita, is the first of all destructive hurricanes. It peaked as a Category 4 and impacted Lesser Antilles, Guyana, Venezuela, Hispaniola and rest of the Caribbean. This July monster caused almost more than 1150 deaths and $4 billion in damages, mostly in Guyana, Venezuela and Hispaniola.

Hurricane Harold is a less destructive hurricane, which transversed Florida and Newfoundland. It peaked at Category 3 strength, making it the second major hurricane of the season. It caused light impact in areas affected.

August


Tropical Storm Irma is another tropical storm which affects Cuba and Florida. It forms on August 2 as a wave, and intensifying at peak winds of 50 mph. It slowly weakened and it later dissipated.

Hurricane Jonas is another major hurricane which caused heavy damage in Mexico. It formed in August 6, making it's first minimal hurricane landfall, and later it underwent explosive intensification, peaking at 130 mph, and it made landfall in Mexico. It caused heavy damage, amounting to $450 million.

A harmless storm, Tropical Storm Katrina, formed in August 9 off the coast of Africa. It didn't cause any known impact, and it peaked at 65 mph. It dissipated later on. A strong storm, Hurricane Lee is a very strong 150 mph storm which transversed the northern part. It's huge structure caused huge waves in Newfoundland and New England. It didn't caused much damage, due to it's main core not hitting any landmass.

Hurricane Maria is the first Category 5 hurricane of the season, causing catastrophic damage in Central America. It peaked with winds of 185 mph, and pressure of 899 mbar. It formed on August 17 and later it made landfall in South America. Later it grow to be a powerful Central American hurricane, and later it made landfall in Texas as Category 4. It caused massive damage in Texas and Central America, and one of the deadliest in the recent years. It caused a total damage of $75 billion and death toll of 6355.

Another tropical storm, Tropical Storm Nate, formed in Caribbean Sea as an invest, and it intensified and peaked with winds of 45 mph. It only caused minimal impact, mostly in Haiti and Cuba.

Tropical Storm Oriana is another weak tropical storm which formed in the Gulf of Mexico. It made landfall on Texas as a weak tropical storm, and didn't cause much impact. Hurricane Pierre is a Category 2 storm which hits Florida, Bahamas, and Georgia. It caused some flooding in areas mentioned above, but overall it's not all worse. Total damage was about $1 billion.

One of the costliest storms ever recorded, Hurricane Rita, otherwise known as "The Great Storm of 2017" and "Megastorm Rita", due to it's massive structure and unforgettable impact. Rita formed as a tropical wave and later emerged as a strong Category 5 hurricane in the Main Development Region. As it passes the Caribbean, it becomes larger and larger, at the same time, more intense, until it becomes super intense. It becomes so intense, reaching barometric pressure of 838 mbar, making it most intense storm ever recorded. It also has winds of 235 mph, some speculate it could have been much stronger. It made landfall in Florida, but it didn't weaken to Category 4 for a day, leaving Florida in ruins. Most of the well-known buildings, such as the Disneyland and the NHC Headquarters were rubbled and NHC was forced to retreat to a different place. It later weakened and turned extratropical. It almost totally destroyed Florida, as well as most of Caribbean, and leaving almost 15,000 dead, one of the highest in history, and damage of $1.7 trillion, making it the costliest hurricane ever recorded until Whitney, and the first natural disaster to reach $1 trillion in damages.

September
Hurricane Seth, the first September storm of the season is a massive hurricane which caused huge impact, mostly in United States and Canada, though not as severe as Rita and Whitney. Seth mostly avoided the already devastated Caribbean region after reaching Category 5 intensity. It then suffered some shear, but it is able to reach near New England as a Category 5, though a ridge brought it east. It made a cyclonic loop and hit Newfoundland as a minimal hurricane. Damage was above $1 billion.

A rare Category 5 hurricane, Hurricane Taylor formed in the Gulf of Mexico, then it emerged in the Bay of Campeche. Rapid intensification allowed Taylor to reach Category 5 status. It hit Mexico at peak intensity, causing damage more than $2.5 billion. It was weakened by mountain terrain, and degenerated. It's remnants contributed to a formation of a major hurricane in the Pacific.

Hurricane Vernon is a non-destructive Category 2 hurricane which only affected Cape Verde. It peaked as a Category 2 with winds of 105 mph and it's remnants later contributed to a stronger Hurricane Alpha. The most disastrous and costliest hurricane ever recorded, Hurricane Whitney, also known as "Hypercane Whitney", and "The Worst Nightmare", is the one which almost wiped out most of the northeast U.S. Forming in the Main Development Region, Whitney undergone explosive intensification and become a strong Category 5 hurricane. It narrowly avoided Puerto Rico, but it still brought tremendous damage to the area, as well as all of Caribbean. It grow big in size, and becoming deeper and deeper. It peaked with winds of 225 mph, and pressure of 858 mbar, behind Rita. Whitney began to encounter shear, but did not retaliate until it reached North Carolina. It began to weaken, and it made landfall in Long Island as a Category 4 hurricane, causing major hurricane situations. Whitney is by far the costliest hurricane ever recorded in history, due to massive surge wiping out most major cities like New York City and it also devastated landmarks like White House, Empire State Building and many more. Millions of people fled the affected areas, including the people in the White House and Pentagon. Besides that, most industries and homes are destroyed by surge, in other states such as New Jersey and all of New England. Effects went as far as Labrador in Canada. One weather reporter said that "Is this the end of the word" while Whitney was bringing massive surge. Due to these effects, total damage was amounted to $3 trillion, and death toll almost reached 30,000. It is by far the worst disaster ever encountered by the world.

From the remnants of Hurricane Vernon, Hurricane Alpha formed and executed a cyclonic loop. It began to strengthen and became a hurricane. It further intensified and peaked at winds of 155 mph, almost reaching Category 5 intensity. Alpha began to weaken and turned northeast. It didn't cause any known impact.

October and November
Hurricane Beta, the first storm of the season, is a very catastrophic hurricane which hit Louisiana as a Category 5 hurricane. It first formed as a weak storm in Nicaragua, later evolving into a strong hurricane. It then peaked winds with 175 mph and accelerated towards Louisiana. Beta then hit Louisiana at 165 mph strength, causing massive flooding in the area, as well as Texas. Almost more than 600 people are killed, mostly due to drowning. Total damage was about $290 billion, and heavy relief efforts are done by already devastated East Coast and by Europe. The storm also caused landslides in Belize and Cancun.

Developing in the Central Atlantic, Hurricane Gamma later evolved as a weak, and later strong hurricane with winds of 150 mph. It passed Azores near peak intensity, and slowly weakened while accelerating northeast. It passed near Spain as Category 3, and later it turned extratropical, with hurricane-force winds. Later it transverse through France and later England. Impact were quite severe. It caused heavy winds particularly in Portugal, Spain and England. Impact in France was quite severe too and the surge damaged most of the coastline. Meteorologists in France dubbed the storm "Eurocane Gamma" due to the unusual track going through Europe. Experts said that heavily warm SSTs caused by global warming may be the cause of the storm, as well as mega-sized hurricanes above. Total damage was $45 billion.

Hurricane Delta is another MDR-born hurricane which affected the Caribbean. The storm peaked at 105 mph and it is expected to be a "megastorm" but it failed due to heavy shear developing. It soon made landfall in South Carolina and damage was about $220 million. Hurricane Epsilon is another hurricane which transverse Cuba. Epsilon then strengthened into a minimal hurricane and it moved east. It caused rough seas across Bahamas and Florida, but overall damage was $150 million.

The first November hurricane, Hurricane Zeta, formed as a weak tropical storm and later emerged as a Category 1 hurricane. It weakened soon and restrengthened and eventually peaked as a Category 3 hurricane. It formed a cyclonic loop and weakened. It didn't cause any damages.

The last storm of the season, Hurricane Eta, formed from the remnants of Hurricane Zeta and developed as a subtropical storm. Later it strengthened to a hurricane and weakened thereafter. It restrengthened and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar. It transitioned into a subtropical hurricane, and publicly known as "Medicane Eta" and fluctuated between subtropical and tropical. It then made landfall near Andorra as a subtropical hurricane and transitioned to a extratropical hurricane. The weird track it made puzzled a lot of experts of what caused this phenomenon. It caused a lot of flooding from Azores to United Kingdom, with worst hit areas include Andorra and Gibraltar. Barcelona was also badly hit by the storm. In France and England, heavy winds blow up some of the well-known structures, though no major damage in the area. It also killed almost 1,000, making one of the deadliest storm in European history, and a damage of $4.8 billion.

Hurricane Arlene
An extratropical cyclone formed well east of Bermuda on April 15. The cyclone moved east, becoming disconnected from the surrounding environment and gradually losing its frontal characteristics. Deep convection formed in bands by 12:00 UTC on April 19, leading to the formation of a subtropical depression. Despite an unfavorable environment,, convection coalesced near the center and allowed the subtropical depression to become Subtropical Storm Arlene by 00:00 UTC on April 20. Shear began to rapidly dissipate and further intensification came as it intensified into a hurricane. After attaining peak winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), Arlene began to rotate around a larger extratropical low. The storm tracked into the cold sector of the cyclone, causing Arlene to weaken and six hours later, it lost it's tropical characteristics on April 24. The post-tropical cyclone moved northeast, before dissipating well north of the Azores on April 25.

Tropical Storm Bret
In late April, a dissipating cold front extended into the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, where the NHC began forecasting the development of an area of low pressure over the next day on May 1. A rapid period of organization occurred over the next 24 hours and the system was deemed as Tropical Depression Two at 06:00 UTC on May 3, strengthening into Tropical Storm Bret twelve hours later. The rapidly-forming storm then reached its peak intensity with winds of 50 mph (85 km/h). Weakening quickly occurred, and later that day the convection of Bret is disappearing as it was downgraded to a tropical depression. The disrupted system degenerated into a remnant low early on May 5, just before it made landfall.

Hurricane Collette
Main Article: Hurricane Collette (2017)

A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on June 13 and was first monitored by the National Hurricane Center shortly afterwards. Development, however, was not expected due to its low latitude and relatively fast motion. As it moved swiftly across the Main Development Region of the Atlantic Ocean, the disturbance began to gradually organize, and the NHC raised development chances on June 16. Little change in organization occurred until June 18, at which point a burst of convection near the center of the disturbance prompted the NHC to designate the system as Tropical Depression Three at 18:00 UTC. The storm continued to organize as it accelerated towards Trinidad and Tobago throughout the night. Later on June 19, the system developed a closed low-level circulation and was upgraded to Tropical Storm Collette at 21:00 UTC. One day later, at 12:00 UTC on June 20, it made landfall near Guyana. It intensified a day later to a minimal hurricane. However, shear was weakening the storm and it further weakened on June 23, at 18:00 UTC. It dissipated the next day.

In Trinidad and Tobago, five person were killed due to drowning. Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro declared the State of Emergency due to effects of Collette. Total damage was $635 million, and 89 deaths were reported, mostly in Venezuela.

Hurricane Dennis
The NHC first began monitoring the potential for tropical cyclone formation over the northwestern Caribbean Sea on June 16. A large area of disturbance developed within the region.and it slowly organized while entering the western Caribbean. A reconnaissance aircraft investigating the system around 21:00 UTC on June 20 was able to pinpoint a well-defined center, indicating the formation of Tropical Depression Four. It strengthened into Tropical Storm Dennis 12 hours later. Despite the presence of dry air and cold surface temperatures, the cyclone still managed to strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane by June 22. A reconnaissance aircraft indicated that Dennis peaked with winds of 100 mph around 12:00 UTC on June 23, making it a Category 2, before making landfall. It made landfall early on June 24. Dennis weakened while progressing inland and transitioned to a post-tropical cyclone on June 25.

Impact on affected areas, including Louisiana and Texas are quite severe. The massive flooding forced schools and some businesses to close while the storm is active. Dennis also caused 20 fatalities and $880 million in damage, in Texas and Louisiana, as well as Cuba.

Hurricane Emma
Tropical Depression Five formed from a tropical wave west of Cape Verde on the afternoon of July 5, the first Cape Verde-type storm of the season. The system encountered dry air and wind shear as it turned to the west as it became Tropical Storm Emma, around 12:00 UTC on July 6. Shear and dry air briefly disrupted the cyclone's structure, However, the storm continued to move westward into more favorable conditions and again, rapidly strengthening to a Category 1 hurricane around 21:00 UTC on July 9. Later, it strengthened even further in low shear conditions under an upper level anticyclone. On July 10 it briefly to a Category 2 hurricane, but began to gradually weaken in cooler waters shortly thereafter. It weakened as a tropical storm, making landfall in New York, and it became extratropical near Quebec around 10:00 UTC, July 15. Emma caused rough waves in Caribbean and the New England. Damage wasn't that severe, though. It caused a total of $155 million in damages.

Tropical Storm Ford
On July 5, the NHC forecasted that an area of low pressure would form in the southwestern Caribbean Sea. On July 6, as predicted, a low formed off of the northeastern coast of Honduras. However, the system remained disorganized for the next several days until the afternoon of July 9, when it quickly organized, prompting the NHC to upgrade the system into Tropical Depression Six, since it formed a well-defined center. Over the next day, rapid organization occurred as it strengthened into Tropical Storm Ford six hours later. Strong wind shear and land interaction quickly began to cause the system to become disorganized, and Ford made landfall near Florida Keys as a very disorganized tropical storm with winds of 45 mph (75 km/h). It dissipated hours later.

Hurricane Ghita
Main Article: Hurricane Ghita (2017) A tropical wave developed into Tropical Storm Ghita near in Main Development Region on July 15. Continuing westward under the influence of a mid-level ridge, the storm steadily intensified to attain hurricane intensity by 18:00 UTC on July 17. The effects of wind shear unexpectedly abated late that day, and Ghita began a period of rapid intensification from Category 1 to Category 3 in 3 hours, making it the first July hurricane to attain Category 3 intensity since 2014. It made landfall and it weakened to a Category 1 hurricane later on July 17. However, Ghita made an unexpected intensification to a Category 4 hurricane, but it also weakened due to shear. It reattained and peaked with winds of 130 mph and pressure of 949 mbar, Ghita weakened for the second time, fluctuating between Category 2 and 3 status as it passed Windward Passage. Wind shear further disrupted Ghita's convection. It was downgraded to a tropical storm by 12:00 UTC on July 22 and it turned post-tropical the next day.

Hurricane Jonas
Main Article: Hurricane Jonas (2017)

Hurricane Maria
Main Article: Hurricane Maria (2017)

Hurricane Rita
Main Article: Hurricane Rita (2017)

Hurricane Seth
Main Article: Hurricane Seth (2017)

Hurricane Taylor
Main Article: Hurricane Taylor (2017)

Hurricane Whitney
Main Article: Hurricane Whitney (2017)

Hurricane Beta
Main Article: Hurricane Beta (2017)

Hurricane Gamma
Main Article: Hurricane Gamma (2017)

Hurricane Eta
Main Article: Hurricane Eta (2017)

Storm Names
The following names were used for named storms that formed in the North Atlantic in 2017. The names not retired from this list were used again in the 2023 season. This is the same list used for the 2011 season, except for Jorge, Seth, and Taylor, which replaced Jorge, Sean, and Tilda. Names that were not assigned are marked in gray.

Retirement
Please vote!: Decide_and_suggest_the_retirements_and_replacements!