With the Atlantic hurricane season set to start on June 1, forecasters say 2025 is poised to be a turbulent year with 13 to 18 storms, including hurricanes that can rapidly strengthen leading up to landfall, AccuWeather said Wednesday.
Overall, the AccuWeather 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast predicts 13 to 18 named storms this year, with 7 to 10 of those storms expected to strengthen into hurricanes. Of those, three to five are predicted to strengthen into major hurricanes ranked at class three or above.
“Everyone needs to start planning and preparing for hurricane season. Climatology, weather patterns, water temperatures, and many other factors all point to yet another active Atlantic hurricane season with more tropical storms and hurricanes forming, compared to the historical average,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said in a release. “We expect fewer named storms this year compared to last year. The total number of storms is not truly what defines a hurricane season; it is the impacts to land and populated areas. It only takes one landfall to create a devastating season.”
That forecast predicting a “potentially volatile” Atlantic hurricane season this year, with several similarities to last year’s historic and destructive season. In 2024, five hurricanes and one unnamed subtropical storm made landfall in the U.S., causing total damage and economic loss of a combined $500 billion, AccuWeather said.
Part of the reason for that report is that hurricane experts say early tropical development in May is possible this year due to exceptionally warm water temperatures expected across much of the Atlantic basin.
“The threat of storms rapidly intensifying before they make landfall is a major concern again this year. Water temperatures at the surface and hundreds of feet deep are forecast to be well above the historical average throughout this hurricane season, providing extra fuel for storms to explode in intensity,” AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva said.
By the time the Atlantic hurricane season officially ends on November 30, the forecast said five regions face the greatest risk of direct impacts compared to the historical average—Texas, Louisiana, the western coast of Florida, North Carolina, and Atlantic Canada.
