Note: This report catalogs recent tropical cyclones across the North Atlantic and East Pacific and places each basin’s tropical cyclone activity in a climate-scale context. It is not updated in real time. Users seeking the real time status and forecasts of tropical cyclones should visit The National Hurricane Center.

The Atlantic continued to be significantly more active than normal in July. Five tropical storms formed with two of them becoming hurricanes (Hanna and Isaias). The five named storms tied 2005 for the most in any July. Thanks to an active May and June, however, 2020 broke records for the earliest named storm for each letter E–I. The 2020 record of nine named storms through July dwarfs the normal count of less than two (1.9). Most of these were weak and short-lived, so the Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) is only about double the climatological values for both July and for the season thus far.

The most significant storm in terms of impacts was probably Hurricane Hanna, the first hurricane of the 2020 season. Hanna made landfall in South Texas on July 25 as a strong Category-1 hurricane. However, its impacts were best measured in its torrential rainfall. Some areas exceeded one foot of rain.

In contrast, the East Pacific has been relatively quiet in 2020. Both the number of named storms (4) and the ACE are about two-thirds of their climatological values through July. The ACE was near-normal for July alone, however, in large part due to Hurricane Douglas. Douglas peaked as a Category-4 hurricane in the Central Pacific. Its track took it just north of the Hawaiian islands, sparing them of most of its winds and rain.

July 2020 Atlantic Tropical Cyclones
Name Dates of winds
>39 mph		 Maximum
Sustained Winds		 Minimum
Central Pressure
Tropical Storm Edouard July 6 45 mph 1005 mb
Tropical Storm Fay July 9-11 55 mph 998 mb
Tropical Storm Gonzalo July 22-25 65 mph 997 mb
Hurricane Hanna
(Cat. 1) 		July 24-26 85 mph 973 mb
Hurricane Isaias
(Cat. 1) 		July 30-August 4 85 mph 987 mb
July 2020 East Pacific Tropical Cyclones
Name Dates of winds
>39 mph		 Maximum
Sustained Winds		 Minimum
Central Pressure
Tropical Storm Cristina
 July 7-12 70 mph 993 mb
Hurricane Douglas
(Cat. 4) 		July 20-29 130 mph 954 mb

North Atlantic

July 2020 Tropical Cyclone Counts
Storm Type July 2020 Rank
Period: 1981-2020*		 July
Average
Period: 1981-2010 		July Record Value
Period: 1851-2020
Tropical Storm
(Winds ≥39 mph)		 5 1st
(tied with 1)		 1.1 5
(2005, 2020)
Hurricane
(Winds ≥74 mph)		 2 2nd
(tied with 5)		 0.5
(one out of two Julys)		 3
(1916, 1966, 2005)
Major Hurricane
(Winds ≥111 mph)		 0 4th (tied with 36) 0.1
(one out of ten Julys)		 2
(1916, 2005)
Accumulated Cyclone
Energy (ACE ×104 kt2)		 10.4 8th 6.1 60.3
(2005)
* Tropical cyclone data before 1981 July have a low bias due to limited access to satellite data and techniques over the open ocean.
January-July 2020 Tropical Cyclone Counts
Storm Type January-July 2020 Rank
Period: 1981-2020*		 January-July
Average
Period: 1981-2010 		January-July Record Value
Period: 1851-2020
Tropical Storm
(Winds ≥39 mph)		 9 1st 1.9 9
(2020)
Hurricane
(Winds ≥74 mph)		 2 2nd
(tied with 6)		 0.6
(six out of ten years)		 4
(1886, 1966)
Major Hurricane
(Winds ≥111 mph)		 0 4th (tied with 36) 0.1
(one out of ten years)		 2
(1916, 2005)
Accumulated Cyclone
Energy (ACE ×104 kt2)		 16.4 5th 7.7 63.2
(2005)
* Tropical cyclone data before 1981 July have a low bias due to limited access to satellite data and techniques over the open ocean.

East Pacific

July 2020 Tropical Cyclone Counts
Storm Type July
2020		 Rank
Period: 1981-2020*		 July
Average
Period: 1981-2010 		July Record Value
Period: 1949-2020
Tropical Storm
(Winds ≥39 mph)		 2 33rd
(tied with 6)		 3.6 7
(1985, 2015, 2016)
Hurricane
(Winds ≥74 mph)		 1 28th
(tied with 9)		 1.9 5
(2016)
Major Hurricane
(Winds ≥111 mph)		 1 13th
(tied with 12)		 0.9
(nine out of ten Julys)		 3
(1978, 1985, 1992, 2016)
Accumulated Cyclone
Energy (ACE ×104 kt2)		 26.4 19th 27.6 100.4
(1978)
* Tropical cyclone data before 1981 July have a low bias due to limite access to satellite data and techniques over the open ocean.
January-July 2020 Tropical Cyclone Counts
Storm Type January-July
2020		 Rank
Period: 1981-2020*		 January-July
Average
Period: 1981-2010 		January-July Record Value
Period: 1949-2020
Tropical Storm
(Winds ≥39 mph)		 4 35th
(tied with 4)		 6.3 12
(1985)
Hurricane
(Winds ≥74 mph)		 1 37th
(tied with 2)		 3.1 7
(1990)
Major Hurricane
(Winds ≥111 mph)		 1 24th
(tied with 6)		 1.4 5
(1978, 1992)
Accumulated Cyclone
Energy (ACE ×104 kt2)		 26.7 29th 41.7 128.0
(1978)
* Tropical cyclone data before 1981 July have a low bias due to limite access to satellite data and techniques over the open ocean.

Citing This Report

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Monthly Tropical Cyclones Report for July 2020, published online August 2020, retrieved on September 13, 2024 from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/tropical-cyclones/202007.