MIDWAY, Fl. (WTXL) -- We are now through with the most active hurricane season since 2012. Here is a recap of the season:
We started off quickly, LONG before hurricane season officially began. Hurricane Alex formed from a non-tropical low in January! It was the first hurricane to form in January since 1938.
Bonnie would continue the trend of "pre-season" tropical systems, forming in in late May, impacting South Carolina as a weakened depression.
The first of FOUR Florida impacts came soon after, in the form of Tropical Storm Colin. It formed in early June, making landfall late on June 6th as a ragged tropical storm, producing heavy rains and severe storms across northeast Florida.
Danielle would round off tropical formations in June, and July had no tropical storm formation.
August would become more active with the formation of Earl, Fiona, and Gaston. Gaston would become the first major hurricane to form for the season.
In August, a tropical wave would emerge from Africa, struggling to organize as it crossed the ocean. The National Hurricane Center would zero in on the struggling system as it became a depression over the Gulf of Mexico. This storm would eventually become HERMINE.
Hermine would strike the Big Bend coast as a category 1 hurricane early on September 2nd. The hurricane would do significant damage to the Big Bend, knocking the power out of the majority of the City of Tallahassee. Hermine also ended Florida's streak of years with no landfalling hurricane (dated back to Hurricane Wilma in 2005!)
September would also feature the formation of Ian, Julia (became a tropical storm over Florida!), Karl, and Lisa.
The end of September would show the birth of MATTHEW, which would become the first Category 5 hurricane since Felix in 2007. The storm would ravage Haiti and kill over 1,000 people in the nation before ravaging the east coast of Florida (though not making landfall, sparing more destruction). South Carolina saw a direct landfall by Matthew as a Category 1 storm, and the Carolinas were impacted with heavy rains and devastating river floods.
Nicole would form in early October becoming the third major hurricane during the season and it would strike Bermuda directly.
To finish it all, Otto would form at the end of November. Otto is the southernmost hurricane to strike Central America, and it retained its tropical characteristics as it crossed into the Pacific, effectively adding a storm to the Pacific's season total.
Remember: The season may be over, but as Alex and Bonnie have proven, tropical storms and hurricanes can still form at ANY TIME of the year.
