The Atlantic hurricane season begins with the May 11 naming of a storm named Weston, named after the wide swaths of land that form a dense web covering parts of Australia and New Zealand.
First named Atlantic hurricane season comes with forecast
Of the 88 named Atlantic hurricanes since 1851, 36 have formed in May. May is the fifth month with a named storm.
An Atlantic hurricane must reach 74 mph winds to become a tropical storm and 140 mph winds to become a hurricane.
A tropical depression joins a tropical storm in the season if it becomes at least a tropical storm for at least 48 hours. As time passes, storms become less likely to strengthen into hurricanes.
The season begins June 1 and runs through November 30. The peak season for tropical storms is from August to November. The peak hurricane season, according to experts, is from September through November.
Meteorologist Steve Handelsman joins FOX News Radio to discuss the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season:
Audio clip: Listen to audio clip.
At five minutes to midnight, the average peak length of the Atlantic hurricane season is August 20th.
Hurricane Gordon, the first named storm of the 2018 season, formed Friday, May 4 in the Gulf of Mexico. Meteorologists say as Gordon moves across warm waters this weekend, it could strengthen into a tropical storm or hurricane before it moves away from the U.S.
For more on the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season, click HERE.