2013 Atlantic hurricane season (Recreation - Sassmaster15)

The 2013 Atlantic hurricane season was an above-average year of tropical cyclone formation in the North Atlantic Ocean. The season was the first since the 2007 to feature a Category 5 in the Atlantic basin, and the first since 2005 to feature a major hurricane landfall (Category 3 or higher according to the Saffir-Hurricane Hurricane Wind Scale) in the United States. With fifteen named storms, eight hurricanes, and three major hurricanes, the above-average activity was attributed due to the continued strengthening of the La Niña event that had persisted since the latter half of 2010. Even as ENSO went neutral in the early part of August, above-average activity continued throughout the remainder of the year.

The season had a multitude of implications due to its far-reaching impact; among the hardest-hit areas was central Mexico, which was struck at least five separate occasions by a tropical cyclone. Tropical Storm Andrea caused extensive damage and at least six deaths as it brought heavy rainfall and flooding to Florida and the East Coast of the United States in early June. In early July, Hurricane Chantal plowed through the Leeward Islands and caused millions of dollars in damage due to a deadly flooding event. Hurricane Dorian, a powerful Category 4 hurricane, moved across the Bahamas and eastern Florida as a large, slow-moving hurricane before later curving out to sea, while Hurricane Humberto caused squally conditions to the Cape Verde islands. Mexico, where Hurricane Ingrid, Tropical Storms Barry and Fernand, and unnamed system all made landfall, suffered extensive damage and catastrophic loss of life. Ingrid alone produced at least $2 billion in damage in combination with Hurricane Manuel in the eastern Pacific. Hurricane Karen also had some effects on the Yucatán Peninsula before late undergoing rapid intensification in the Gulf of Mexico and striking the Mississippi-Alabama coast as a major hurricane. Hurricane Erin, the most intense storm of the season, also struck the East Coast of the United States as a large Category 2 hurricane.

Initial seasonal outlooks predicted an above-average season. Even as the season continued with its above-average activity into early August, revised predictions did not match actual activity and remained an underestimate. All in all, forecasts were fairly accurate.