2017 Atlantic hurricane season (Hyperactive version)

By: Sassmaster15

The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season was the third-most active on record, surpassed by only 2005 and the previous year. The season was highly active, producing 24 total tropical cyclones, 22 named storms, fourteen hurricanes, and eight major hurricanes. In addition to producing the third-highest recorded number of named storms within an Atlantic hurricane season, the number of hurricanes was the third-highest on record, with the season responsible for the second-highest total of major hurricanes ever recorded. Several records were broken throughout the course of the year. Several storms were notable, mainly seven of the eight major hurricanes - Emily, Harvey, Katia, Lee, Ophelia, Rina, and Whitney. In addition, Category 1 Hurricane Tammy was the worst cyclone to strike Nicaragua on record. The most damaging effects of the season were felt along the East Coast of the United States, where Hurricane Emily struck South Carolina at nearly Category 5 intensity. Florida suffered massive devastation from three hurricanes - two of which were consecutive major hurricane landfalls. Central America and Mexico were each struck at least twice by tropical cyclones this year. The United States saw an unusually high number of landfalling hurricanes - with at least eight different hurricanes making landfall at least once somewhere along the country - surpassing the previous year. The calendar year 2017 also saw Tropical Storm Delta, which formed in late December 2016 and persisted until January 8, 2017, the latest such dissipation date for an Atlantic tropical cyclone on record.

The official bounds of tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic are June 1st to November 30th, though the season saw activity both before and after these dates. A total of twenty-two named storms formed in 2017 - an above-average number attributed to a strong La Niña in the East Pacific, which produces very favorable conditions in the Atlantic basin. Of these storms, fourteen became hurricanes, while a further eight intensified to major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-simpson scale). Of these, seven became Category 4 hurricanes - the highest seasonal total tied with 2016. In addition, a record-tying four became Category 5 hurricanes, the highest categorization for tropical cyclones according to the Saffir-simpson scale. Only 2005 and 2016 observed such a high amount of hurricanes of this intensity. Among these was Hurricane Rina, the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record. Another unusual feat with this season was the main list of names becoming exhausted, with one letter in the Greek alphabet requiring use, respectively.