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Tropical Cyclones - September 2019

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.
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.

Significant Events

Hurricane Dorian Satellite Image
Hurricane Dorian Satellite Image - Sep. 6, 2019
Source: NOAA
Hurricane Lorenzo Satellite Image
Hurricane Lorenzo Satellite Image - Sep. 26, 2019
Source: NASA

Hurricane Dorian devastated the Bahamas on September 1-3, while it remained nearly stationary. More details of Dorian's formation and impacts on the Bahamas can be found in last month's report. On September 3, Dorian resumed a northward track that paralleled the coast from Cape Canaveral to Cape Hatteras. It made landfall on the Outer Banks, but produced significant rainfall thought the Coastal Carolinas.

Tropical Storm Imelda was a prime example that it doesn't take a monstrous storm like Dorian to produce major impacts. Imelda was barely a tropical storm for just six hours on September 17, but it was another slow-moving storm. It stalled over eastern Texas and maintained a steady supply of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, reminiscent of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Like Harvey, Imelda produced rainfall totals that measured in feet rather than inches.

Hurricane Lorenzo may be remembered as the most unique storm of 2019. It developed into a tropical storm on September 23 just one day after its parent easterly wave emerged from African coast. Three days later it strengthened to a major hurricane before recurving northward around 40°W. The African coast is still clearly visible just east of the storm in the satellite image taken around this time. After some modest weakening, Lorenzo rapidly intensified and briefly attained Category 5 status on September 29. At 45°W, it was the farthest east of any Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic on record. The previous record-holder was Hurricane Hugo (1989), which reached that intensity at 54.6°W. Lorenzo was still a hurricane as it passed near the Azores Islands on October 2. Its post tropical remnants would ultimately bring strong winds and flooding to Ireland. Lorenzo set several records for being one of the strongest and longest-lived hurricanes recorded east of 45°W.


September 2019 Atlantic Tropical Cyclones
Name Dates of winds
>39 mph		 Maximum
Sustained Winds		 Minimum
Central Pressure
Hurricane Dorian
(Cat. 5)		 August 24-September 7 185 mph 910 mb
Tropical Storm Fernand September 3-4 50 mph 1000 mb
Tropical Storm Gabrielle September 4-10 65 mph 995 mb
Hurricane Humberto
(Cat. 3)		 September 14-19 120 mph 951 mb
Tropical Storm Imelda September 17 40 mph 1006 mb
Hurricane Jerry
(Cat. 2)		 September 18-25 105 mph 979 mb
Tropical Storm Karen September 22-27 45 mph 1003 mb
Hurricane Lorenzo
(Cat. 5)		 September 23-October 2 160 mph 925 mb
September 2019 East Pacific Tropical Cyclones
Name Dates of winds
>39 mph		 Maximum
Sustained Winds		 Minimum
Central Pressure
Hurricane Juliette
(Cat. 3)		 September 1-7 125 mph 953 mb
Tropical Storm Akoni September 5-6 45 mph 1003 mb
Hurricane Kiko
(Cat. 4)		 September 12-24 130 mph 950 mb
Hurricane Lorena
(Cat. 1)		 September 17-22 85 mph 985 mb
Tropical Storm Mario September 18-22 65 mph 992 mb
Tropical Storm Narda September 28-October 1 50 mph 998 mb

North Atlantic

September 2019 Tropical Cyclone Counts
Storm Type September 2019 September 1981-2010
Average		 Record Most for September
Period of Record: 1851-2018
Tropical Storm
(Winds ≥39 mph)		 7 4.0 8
(2002, 2007, 2010)
Hurricane
(Winds ≥74 mph)		 3 2.6 5
(1955, 1969, 1981, 1998, 2000, 2005)
Major Hurricane
(Winds ≥111 mph)		 2 1.3 4
(1961)
Accumulated Cyclone
Energy (ACE ×104 kt2)		 92.2 51.1 173.7
(2017)
January-September 2019 Tropical Cyclone Counts
Storm Type January-September
2019		 January-September
1981-2010 Average		 Record Most for January-September
Period of Record: 1851-2018
Tropical Storm
(Winds ≥39 mph)		 12 9.2 17
(2005, 2011)
Hurricane
(Winds ≥74 mph)		 5 4.7 10
(1893, 2005)
Major Hurricane
(Winds ≥111 mph)		 3 2.2 6
(2004)
Accumulated Cyclone
Energy (ACE ×104 kt2)		 112.2 83.4 222.9
(1933)

East Pacific

September 2019 Tropical Cyclone Counts
Storm Type September 2019 September 1981-2010
Average		 Record Most for September
Period of Record: 1949-2018
Tropical Storm
(Winds ≥39 mph)		 6 3.6 6
(1957, 1966, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2019)
Hurricane
(Winds ≥74 mph)		 3 2.3 6
(1992)
Major Hurricane
(Winds ≥111 mph)		 2 1.1 3
(1983, 1985, 1992, 1993)
Accumulated Cyclone
Energy (ACE ×104 kt2)		 44.3 35.7 111.7
(1992)
January-September 2019 Tropical Cyclone Counts
Storm Type January-September
2019		 January-September
1981-2010 Average		 Record Most for January-September
Period of Record: 1949-2018
Tropical Storm
(Winds ≥39 mph)		 15 14.1 22
(1992)
Hurricane
(Winds ≥74 mph)		 7 7.5 14
(1990, 1992)
Major Hurricane
(Winds ≥111 mph)		 4 3.7 9
(1993)
Accumulated Cyclone
Energy (ACE ×104 kt2)		 93.5 110.8 254.9
(1992)

Citing This Report

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, State of the Climate: Tropical Cyclones for September 2019, published online October 2019, retrieved on February 27, 2021 from https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/tropical-cyclones/201909.

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