For the first time in a decade, there was no direct landfall on the U.S. from a hurricane. Despite no landfalls, it was still an active season overall with 13 named storms and three Category 5 hurricanes.
What You Need To Know
- NOAA and Colorado State University forecasted above normal activity this year
- First year since 2015 that no hurricane made a direct landfall on the United States
- Hurricane Melissa was the most intense hurricane of the 2025 season, with winds of 185 mph and a pressure of 892 mbar
Both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Colorado State University (CSU) predicted 2025 would have above-normal activity during their pre-season forecasts. With the latter predicting 16 named storms.
Total storms
In the end, the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season was slightly above average with 13 named storms, five hurricanes and four major storms.
However, the season didn’t feel all that busy, and that’s because most of the storms stayed out to sea, with no direct landfalling hurricanes this year. Thanks to a persistent weaker Bermuda High, many storms came close to the coast but curved northward out to sea before making direct landfall.
Notable storms
Even though storms did not make landfall, that doesn’t mean they didn’t cause damage to the United States. Hurricanes Erin and Imelda came close to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, causing coastal erosion. In the past five years, at least 11 homes have toppled into the surf in Rodanthe, N.C.
Both storms ended up curving northward and then northeast out to sea.
Two houses sit out in the heavy surf as Hurricane Erin passes offshore at Rodanthe, N.C., on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)
Although no hurricanes made landfall in the U.S. this year, one tropical storm did—Chantal. It made landfall just one day after forming, moving inland near Litchfield Beach, South Carolina, as a tropical storm with winds of 60 mph on July 6.
Flooding from Chantal in Saxapahaw. (Spectrum News 1/Jordan Kudisch)
Heavy rainfall and flash flooding were the biggest impacts from Chantal. Radar-estimated rainfall totals up 9 to 12 inches were recorded in parts of North Carolina between Raleigh and Greensboro, causing significant flooding around Chapel Hill and nearby rivers.
Fujiwhara Effect
As Hurricane Imelda was churning off the coast of North Carolina, it was also about 400 miles from Hurricane Humberto, creating a semi-rare phenomenon called the Fujiwhara Effect. With the two hurricanes so close to each other, it looked as if a mega-hurricane was going to develop, but Bay News 9’s Chief Meteorologist Mike Clay said back in September, we should not be concerned about these storms colliding and forming a mega-hurricane.
“In the Atlantic, if two tropical systems are close enough, they can ruin the environment for both, just like we are seeing right now with Humberto and Imelda. There just isn’t enough ocean space.”
Hurricanes Imelda and Humberto are located about 400 miles from each other in the Atlantic. (NOAA)
The smaller or weaker storm will usually circle around the bigger one, as the larger storm will eventually dominate or potentially even fully absorb the smaller system. In this case, Imelda was the larger storm and fully absorbed Humberto.
Category 5 storms
Three hurricanes this year reached Category 5 status with wind speeds over 155 mph. Those storms include Hurricane Erin, Humberto and Melissa.
Erin formed in the western Atlantic on Aug. 11 and rapidly intensified into a Category 5 hurricane on Aug. 16 with winds of 160 mph. It brushed past the northern Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola before moving past the U.S., bringing life-threatening surf and dangerous rip currents up the East Coast.
Coastal flooding was worse along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, especially during high tide, forcing thousands to evacuate and closing Highway 12 on Hatteras Island, and tidal flooding led to rescues in Margate City, New Jersey.
A section of N.C. 12 at the north end of Buxton is flooding before the Tuesday afternoon high tide as Hurricane Erin continues moving northwest across the Atlantic Ocean. (N.C. Department of Transportation)
Hurricane Humberto became a hurricane two days after forming into a tropical storm. It rapidly intensified into a Category 4 storm and then, 24 hours later, it reached peak intensity as a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 160 mph. It moved between the United States and Bermuda and brought large swells and dangerous rip currents to the U.S. East Coast and squally weather to Bermuda.
Melissa was a late-season Category 5 hurricane and the most intense storm of the season. It became a tropical storm on Oct. 21 and by Oct. 25 it had undergone rapid intensification, becoming a Category 4 hurricane. Melissa nearly stalled in the Caribbean Sea and, thanks to favorable conditions, it achieved Category 5 status on Oct. 27.
The church of Lacovia Tombstone, Jamaica, sits damaged in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
It reached peak intensity with winds of 185 mph and is now tied for third for the most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record (since 1851) with a pressure of 892 mbar. It made landfall near New Hope, Jamaica, on Oct. 28. Over 100 fatalities were reported due to Melissa.
Forecast models
The forecast for Melissa was notably a challenge. Weather models were showing inconsistent tracks run-to-run.
The National Hurricane Center, surprisingly, relied on Google’s DeepMind, a new AI weather model-over more traditional models. Data showed the AI model outperformed traditional physics-based models and aligned with the National Hurricane Center’s forecasts when came to track error.
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