Greensboro, NC -- The 2012 hurricane season may seem to be relatively quite, but with the peak of the season occurring on Monday that couldn't be further from the truth.
The season got off to an early start with Tropical Storm Alberto and Tropical Storm Beryl developing before the official start to hurricane season on June 1st. Since then the Atlantic Basin has produced eleven more named storms, five hurricanes and one major hurricane (Michael). Eight of the thirteen named storms so far this year formed in the month of August.
September 10th is historically when the tropical activity in the Atlantic reaches it's peak. Over the last 100 years nearly 100 tropical systems have been active on September 10th. Basically, this tells you that there is a pretty good chance that there will be an ongoing tropical system on this date.
On Monday there were actually two ongoing tropical systems in the Atlantic Ocean (Tropical Storm Leslie & Hurricane Michael) and another developing system with a 90% chance of becoming a tropical storm within 48 hours.
The most active season in the Atlantic Basin was in 2005 when there was a total of 28 named storms. Through September 10th in 2005 there had already been fifteen named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes.
Since 1966, the average hurricane season produces eleven named storms, six hurricanes and three major hurricanes.