The 2026 Hurricane Season Has Begun — Here’s What To Expect

While Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer, and Labor Day seems to mark the end, there's another big milestone moment that happens between those two dates: Hurricane season. And while people outside of the Gulf Coast and the East Coast may not have to keep too close an eye on the weather during these months, those located in the most common paths of these destructive storms know that they have to watch the unfolding weather patterns with increased caution this time of year.

That's because these months are the ones that are most likely to produce these storms, which have been known to level cities and produce destructive winds and flooding rains. And while some of these storms will just serve as an annoyance, others will be deadly.

Curious to know what the 2026 hurricane predictions look like? Keep reading to learn what the experts think will happen this season, including how many named storms there will be, and what you can expect.

According to The Weather Channel, this year is expected to be quieter than average, with most storm monitoring systems predicting between eight and 14 named storms for the season, and three to seven hurricanes. For reference, 2000 predictions were based on the storms produced between 1971 and 2000, and saw 10 named storms and six hurricanes.

But don't let the "quieter than average" phrasing fool you. The Weather Channel notes that all it takes is one big hurricane to make it feel like a lot.

This hurricane season will also feature an El Niño system that will run through most of the hurricane season. However, this system will have more influence in the Pacific, which typically only controls the hurricanes produced from the Southeast to the Caribbean. For the Caribbean, this means fewer hurricanes due to the wind shear.

And while the Gulf Coast and Southeast could still see strong hurricanes, El Niño years typically mean fewer storms making landfall.

That being said, the Pacific could see more storms than normal, and an increase in rainfall in areas like New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California.

As for the 2026 hurricane season names, you'll notice a few repeats on the list from 2020 (minus Laura, which was removed due to the devastation that the storm caused in Louisiana), and a few newcomers, like Leah.

The 2026 hurricane season kicks off on June 1 and runs all the way through Nov. 31, 2026, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The agency says that this year's run looks to have a 35 percent chance of a "near-normal" season, with just a 10 percent chance of an above-normal season, and a 55 percent chance that things are even quieter than normal.

NOAA says that it believes we'll see eight to 14 named storms, with three to six reaching hurricane strength.

The agency puts its storm prediction accuracy at around 70 percent.