Storms guide
Hurricane and Typhoon Season: When It Starts, When It Peaks, and How Storms Get Their Names
Tropical cyclones form somewhere on Earth in almost every month of the year, but each ocean has its own season. Here is when each one starts, when it peaks, and how the storms get their names.
Updated 4 November 2026
The seasons, ocean by ocean
| Ocean | Official season | Busiest time |
|---|---|---|
| North Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico | 1 June – 30 November | Mid-August to mid-October; the peak is around 10 September |
| Eastern North Pacific (Mexico) | 15 May – 30 November | July to September |
| Central North Pacific (Hawaii) | 1 June – 30 November | July to September |
| Western North Pacific (typhoons) | All year | July to October |
| North Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea) | All year | Two peaks: April to June and October to December |
| Southern hemisphere (Australia, South Pacific, south-west Indian Ocean) | 1 November – 30 April | January to March |
Storms can form outside these dates; the official season covers the time when almost all of them do.
Why storms need a season
Tropical cyclones draw their energy from warm sea water, usually at least 26.5 °C down to about 50 metres. They also need moist air and light winds high up, so the storm isn't torn apart. These conditions come together in each ocean's late summer and early autumn, when the sea is at its warmest.
In the North Indian Ocean the summer monsoon brings strong winds high up that tear storms apart, which is why the season there has a gap in the middle of summer.
How storms are named
Names make storms easier to talk about and warn people about, especially when there are several at once. The lists are agreed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and each ocean has its own.
- Atlantic and eastern Pacific: six alphabetical lists of names, used in turn, so each list comes back every six years. Names alternate between men's and women's names.
- If a season runs out of names, the Atlantic now uses a supplemental list. The Greek alphabet was used in 2005 and 2020 but was dropped after 2020.
- Western Pacific: names are submitted by 14 countries and territories in the region, and many are not people's names at all, but flowers, animals and places.
- Retired names: after a very deadly or costly storm, its name is taken off the list and replaced. Katrina, Sandy, Maria and Ian are among the retired Atlantic names.
Is the season getting worse?
Scientists expect a warmer climate to bring a larger share of very strong hurricanes, heavier rainfall and higher storm surges as sea levels rise, though not necessarily more storms overall. Each season is still shaped by natural patterns such as El Niño, which tends to calm the Atlantic and strengthen the eastern and central Pacific, and La Niña, which tends to do the opposite.
Not an official warning service. In an emergency, follow your local authorities.