2023 Atlantic hurricane season

The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season was the fourth-most active Atlantic hurricane season on record with 20 named storms forming, tied with 1933. Among them, 7 became hurricanes, with 3 reaching major hurricane strength. The season also had an above‑normal accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) rating of 146, despite the presence of the 2023–24 El Niño event, which typically results in less activity, and had the most storms for an El Niño year on record, largely due to record-warm sea surface temperatures across the Atlantic. The season officially began on June 1 and ended on November 30. These dates, adopted by convention, historically describe the period in each year when most tropical cyclogenesis occurs in the Atlantic. However, the formation of subtropical or tropical cyclones is possible at any time of the year, as demonstrated by the formation of a subtropical storm on January 16, the earliest start of an Atlantic hurricane season since Hurricane Alex in January 2016. At the time, the system was assessed as non-tropical by the National Hurricane Center (NHC), resulting in it staying unnamed.

June saw two tropical storms—Bret and Cindy—form in the tropical Atlantic (south of 23.5°N, east of 60°W) for the first time on record. The former made landfall on Saint Vincent. An unprecedented stretch of activity commenced in late August. Tropical Storm Harold struck southern Texas on August 22, and Hurricane Franklin made landfall in the Dominican Republic as a tropical storm the following day, with the latter reaching peak intensity as a high-end Category 4 hurricane and bringing tropical-storm-force winds to Bermuda. After briefly attaining Category 4 strength on August 30, Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane. In early September, Hurricane Lee rapidly intensified into a Category 5 hurricane, then later made multiple landfalls in Atlantic Canada as a strong extratropical cyclone. Later that month, Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall in North Carolina. In October, both Tropical Storm Philippe, the longest-lived tropical cyclone in the Atlantic this year, and Hurricane Tammy made landfall on Barbuda. Also that month, Tropical Depression Twenty‑One made landfall in Nicaragua. With Tammy's dissipation on October 28, the season effectively ended, as no tropical cyclones formed thereafter. The systems of this season collectively produced at least $4.19 billion (USD) in damage, and caused 16 fatalities.

Despite the above-normal activity this season, El Niño‑enhanced wind shear prevented most storms from significantly strengthening. Additionally, the El Niño event weakened the Bermuda High, allowing systems to curve northward or take more easterly tracks out to sea, as opposed to being pushed westward towards the continental United States, Mexico, or Central America. As a result, only a few systems impacted land or caused significant damage this season, with just three making landfall in the U.S. For the first time since the 2014 season, no names were retired this year by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).