2018 Atlantic hurricane season (Blackford)

the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season was a record active season with 30 tropical depressions (1 less than 2005), 29 tropical storms (1 more than in 2005), 13 hurricanes (2 less than in 2005) and 8 major hurricanes (1 more than 2005 and 1961)

Tropical Depression One
On January 3, the first system formed...TD One was formed out of the remnants of Sean, a late season storm from 2017...it could not be considered "Post-Tropical Storm Sean" as it had little parts of Sean...on January 5 it merged with Winter Storm Grant over the Northeastern United States.

Tropical Storm Alberto
On April 16, Tropical Depression Two developed in the Western Atlantic off the coast of Africa...on April 18 it became Tropical Storm Alberto, on April 23...Alberto caused Hurricane Watches on the coast of North Carolina, Alberto made landfall on April 25 as a 70MPH Tropical Storm.

Major Hurricane Beryl
On May 14, 17 days before the start of the hurricane season...Tropical Depression Three emerged in the Gulf of Mexico as a rare early storm...on May 15 it became Tropical Storm Beryl, a hurricane watch was declared for the Florida Panhandle on May 16...Beryl hit hurricane status on May 17 and turned away from Florida and towards Mexico, on May 18 Beryl hit a peak of 135MPH before making landfall in Mexico on the 19th as a 130MPH Category 4. Beryl became the first storm of the 2018 Pacific hurricane season or Tropical Storm Aletta...Beryl was the first name retired in 2018 due to major loss of life in eastern Mexico and extreme southern Texas.

Tropical Storm Chris
On June 17, the remnants of Major Hurricane Bud entered the Atlantic basin, it briefly became TS Chris on the 18th before merging with Debby on the 19th.

Major Hurricane Debby
On June 18, a tropical depression emerged near Chris...it was called Tropical Depression Five, it quickly became a Category 2 hurricane by the morning of the 19th...it merged with Chris on the 19th to become a major Category 5 hurricane...it only took 16 hours for Debby to strengthen from a Invest to a Category 5, the quickest time in history! Debby hit 190MPH before weakening and diminishing on the 26th...Debby was the second name retired in 2018 due to the extreme damage in Cuba and Jamaica.

Major Hurricane Ernesto
On July 14, Tropical Depression Six emerged near the coast of Panama...by midnight July 15, it was already Tropical Storm Ernesto...it took 8 hours for Ernesto to strengthen from a tropical depression to a Category 3, as it was already a Cat 3 by 3AM...It merged with Hurricane Florence on July 15 however...making it the shortest lived system of the year, lasting only 12 hours.

Major Hurricane Florence
On July 15, Tropical Depression Seven emerged...and quickly grew into a Category 4 hurricane by that evening, it absorbed Ernesto earlier that morning, and around 3:00AM on the 16th became a 165MPH Category 5, it briefly weakened back down to a Category 4 until noon, when it restrengthened into a 170MPH Category 5...Florence quickly became a 195MPH Category 5 before weakening to 190MPH...the storm moved into the Southeastern US on July 18 and diminished on July 23. Florence was retired due to incredible damages, more than 5 trillion USD in damage was inflicted by Florence, making it the costliest disaster in history.

Hurricane Gordon
The 4th hurricane in a row...Gordon was quickly absorbed by Hurricane Helene...it lasted 15 hours, 3 hours longer than Ernesto.

Major Hurricane Helene
The 5th hurricane in a row, Helene formed on August 3 less than 45 minutes after Gordon as Tropical Storm Helene, it reached a peak of 150MPH before weakening and dying on August 7.

Tropical Storm Isaac
TS Isaac broke the record long string of hurricanes, it only reached a peak of 65MPH before being absorbed by Joyce.

Mid-season outlook
The NHC, noticing the hyperactive nature of this season upgraded the original outlook to look alot more like 2004 activity.

Major Hurricane Joyce
The 6th major hurricane of the 2018 season, Joyce developed on September 3 and quickly absorbed Isaac. It reached it's peak of 120MPH on September 5 before diminishing.

Major Hurricane Kirk
On September 6, Tropical Depression Thirteen emerged in the Atlantic...it became Category 4 Hurricane Kirk in a matter of hours before diminishing on the 12th. this storm tied the record for most major hurricanes with 2005 and 1961.

Hurricane Leslie
On September 13, Leslie developed in the Atlantic, it reached it's peak on the 15th before diminishing on the 17th.

Major Hurricane Micheal
The final major hurricane of the season, Micheal reached a peak of 120MPH on September 23 before diminishing on September 30. Micheal broke the record for most major hurricanes in a year.

Hurricane Nadine
On September 26, Tropical Depression Sixteen emerged in the Caribbean Sea, it became Category 2 Hurricane Nadine, the 11th hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season.

Tropical Storm Oscar
Oscar developed from TD Seventeen on September 29 and became Tropical Storm Oscar on October 1, officially ending the hyperactive September. it diminished on October 3.

Hurricane Patty
Patty was the 12th hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season, it reached a peak of 75MPH on October 3 before diminishing.

Tropical Storm Rafael
Tropical Depression Nineteen developed on October 6 and quickly became Rafael, Rafael diminished on October 10.

Tropical Storm Sara
Tropical Depression Twenty developed on October 9 and became Sara on the 12th, Sara diminished on the 15th.

Tropical Storm Tony
Tropical Depression Twenty-one formed on October 13, and became Tony on the 14th, Tony diminished on the 16th.

Tropical Storm Valerie
Tropical Depression Twenty-two formed on October 15 and became Valerie on the 16th when it absorbed Tony, Valerie diminished soon after when it went right into the Bermuda High.

Tropical Storm William
The final named storm of the year before they would move into Alpha names, William formed as Tropical Depression Twenty-three on October 21 before becoming a Tropical Storm on October 22, it diminished on the 24th.

Late season outlook
the NHC declared this season will likely match 2005's in insanity on October 25.

Tropical Storm Alpha
Tropical Depression Twenty-four developed on October 27...it became Alpha on October 28 and hit the Northeast on Halloween, it diminished on November 1.

Hurricane Beta
The final hurricane of 2018, Beta was a historical hurricane in the fact that it struck Florida exactly 2 months after Joyce, it diminished exactly 2 months after Joyce. It was also called Hurricane Twenty-five by some.

Tropical Storm Gamma
Gamma developed on November 27 as TD Twenty-six. It became Gamma on November 30, the day the season ended and diminished on December 3.

Tropical Storm Delta
Delta developed on December 10 as TD Twenty-seven. It became Delta on December 13, it diminished on the 17th.

Tropical Storm Epsilon
Epsilon developed on Christmas Eve as TD Twenty-eight...It became Epsilon on Christmas Day but quickly diminished on the 26th.

Tropical Storm Zeta
Zeta formed on Christmas Day as TD Twenty-nine...it became Zeta on the 26th and absorbed Epsilon's remnants...it diminished on the 28th.

Tropical Storm Thirty
The final Tropical system of the year formed on December 27, it absorbed Zeta on the 28th and diminished on New Years Day 2019.

Season in review
The 2018 season is often looked back on as worse than 2005, with a much higher death toll than any other season in recorded history and the costliest year in human history.

Retired names
In Spring 2019 the retired names were announced. they are as follows: Beryl, Debby and Florence.