2020 Atlantic hurricane season (Kindofameme)

WORK IN PROGRESS
The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was an above-average Atlantic hurricane season that saw 15 named storms and 8 hurricanes, 3 of which became major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher). The first above-average season since 2018, activity was boosted this season due to the El Nino event of the previous year rapidly dissipating.

The season was particularly destructive for the Caribbean, especially Haiti which saw two hurricanes strike the country and prolonging a humanitarian crisis in the area. 2020 also featured the first Category 5 hurricane since 2017 and the strongest storm in the basin since Irma in 2017, Hurricane Hanna, which became the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a pressure of 904 millibars.

This season's activity was reflected with an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) rating of 171, which is a measure of the kinetic energy used by tropical cyclones with wind speeds exceeding 39 mph (63 km/h). This was over 50% of the long-term average, and easily fell into the 'Above-normal' grading. Most of this was due to Hurricane Hanna, which produced the second highest ACE for any tropical cyclone in the Atlantic on record, at 70.2, just shy of the record held by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which had an ACE of 70.4.

Timeline
The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 2020, and ended on November 30, 2020. However, tropical cyclones can form outside of the official bounds, as illustrated when Tropical Depression One formed on May 29. This was the sixth year in a row where a tropical cyclone formed before the season began. It was an above-average season which saw 15 named storms, 8 of which strengthened into hurricanes. Three of those hurricanes became major hurricanes, and one (Hanna) became a Category 5 hurricane.

Activity was initially slow, with only one tropical storm, Arthur, developing before August 1. However, in August activity began to accelerate with tropical storms Bertha and Cristobal simultaneously forming on August 6. After striking Haiti at Category 1 status, Cristobal went on to strengthen to Category 4 status just off the Eastern Seaboard, becoming one of the northernmost Category 4 hurricanes on record, and was the first major hurricane to threaten New England since Earl in 2010. It instead made landfall in Nova Scotia and underwent extratropical transition.

In late August, activity was eventful, but most of the storms were weak. Tropical Storm Edouard carved a path of damage from the Windward Islands to Texas as it struggled to cope with unfavourable conditions. After a week of inactivity, on September 11, Gonzalo formed and made landfall in the Deep South of Texas as a Category 2 hurricane. Soon after, Hanna formed just southeast of Cape Verde on August 18. It strengthened to Category 5 status while situated just northeast of the Leeward Islands, becoming the second easternmost Category 5 on record behind Hurricane Irma in 2017. It retained Category 5 status for nearly 4 days as it curved to the north, making landfall in South Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane. During this time, it bottomed out at a pressure of 904 mbar, becoming the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record.

Simultaneously, Hurricanes Isaias and Josephine both formed, with the latter making landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula at Category 2 intensity. October, while being not as active as the previous month, still was above-average with a Category 3 hurricane, Nana, compounding relief efforts in Haiti after it was still reeling from the impacts of Cristobal. The final named storm, Omar, dissipated on November 14, over two weeks before the official end of the season.

Storm names
The following is a list of names used for tropical storms and hurricanes that formed in the North Atlantic in 2024.

This was the same list used for the 2014 season, as no names were retired that year.

On April 13, 2021, the World Meteorological Organization retired two names: Cristobal and Hanna. Their replacements for the 2026 season are Cedric and Heidi.

Storm effects
This is a table of all of the storms that have formed during the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. It includes their names, duration, peak strength, areas affected, damage, and death totals. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical, a wave, or a low, and all of the damage figures are in 2020 USD.