A brief history of odd hurricanes

A few rare cases show just how varied the atmosphere’s playbook can be.

For only the second time in the modern satellite era, which began in 1966, the Atlantic was completely quiet through the first half of September. Typically, this is the statistical peak of hurricane season, when the warmest waters, favorable winds and still-long summer days align to fuel the strongest storms. Instead, this usually active period has been unusually tame—however, with hurricane season stretching until Nov. 30, there’s still ample time for activity to increase.

Hurricane records include a handful of storms that stand out for when or where they formed. Some have appeared in months outside the traditional season, while others have taken shape in basins considered less favorable for development. Hurricane Catarina, for example, made history in 2004 by forming in the South Atlantic. Hurricane Pali, meanwhile, developed in January 2016 in the central Pacific, one of the earliest tropical cyclones ever recorded there. These rare cases show just how varied the atmosphere’s playbook can be.

Hurricane Catarina, 2004

In late March 2004, an unprecedented storm developed off the coast of southern Brazil in the South Atlantic, a region long considered off-limits for tropical cyclones due to cooler waters and strong upper-level wind shear. But with unusually high sea-surface temperatures and favorable atmospheric conditions, the system strengthened into what observers widely recognized as a hurricane.

Catarina made landfall near Santa Catarina state on March 28 with estimated 100-mph winds, damaging or destroying tens of thousands of homes. It was the first recorded hurricane-strength storm in the South Atlantic, making it a milestone in meteorological history.

The storm is most often called “Hurricane Catarina”—a nod to Santa Catarina, the state hardest hit. All names for this storm are unofficial, as it was not named by any hurricane-monitoring meteorological agency affiliated with the World Meteorological Organization, but it has endured in both science and public memory.

Hurricane Pali, 2016

Pali defied the odds in multiple ways. Forming just a few days into the new year on Jan. 7, 2016, the storm was the earliest tropical cyclone recorded in the Central Pacific basin, and it reached hurricane intensity by Jan. 12. Pali also formed at a very low latitude near the equator. Remember that hurricanes never form at the equator because the Coriolis effect — the force that causes storms to spin — is essentially zero there. Without that spin to organize thunderstorms into a rotating system, tropical cyclones cannot develop. Pali is the second-lowest latitude tropical cyclone on record.

The storm developed southwest of Hawaii, powered by unusually warm ocean waters tied to a strong El Niño. Pali peaked with 90-mph winds, rare for midwinter, and stayed mostly over open ocean. But its January arrival set it apart as one of the strangest out-of-season storms ever documented.

Hurricane Vince, 2005

In October 2005, Hurricane Vince formed unusually far east in the Atlantic, close to Portugal and Spain, where waters are generally considered too cool to sustain such a system. Vince briefly reached hurricane strength before weakening and making landfall in Spain as a tropical depression, the first recorded tropical system to do so. Although not especially destructive, Vince’s location made it historic.

Hurricane Ophelia, 2017

Hurricane Ophelia took a highly unusual path in October 2017, traveling northeast across the Atlantic toward Europe. It reached Category 3 strength—the easternmost major hurricane on record—before it lost its tropical characteristics and blasted Ireland and the UK with hurricane-force winds.

Ophelia caused widespread damage and three deaths in Ireland. Its trajectory showed how far east intense Atlantic hurricanes can travel under the right conditions.

Hurricane Ivan, 2004

Hurricane Ivan was a powerful storm, peaking as a Category 5 with winds topping 160 mph. Ivan tore through the Caribbean before hammering the U.S. Gulf Coast. But what makes it one of the oddest hurricanes on record is its looping encore. After landfall, Ivan weakened, curved back into the Atlantic, reorganized over the Gulf then made landfall on the Gulf Coast a second time. Along the way, it spawned a staggering 120 tornadoes and caused more than 120 deaths, leaving behind $26 billion in damages.

Hurricane Alex, 2016

In January 2016, Hurricane Alex became the first hurricane to form in the Atlantic in January since 1938. It developed from a subtropical system near the Azores, benefiting from unusually warm waters and favorable upper-level winds. Alex reached Category 1 status with 85-mph winds before striking the Azores as a tropical storm. The storm's midwinter arrival highlights that under the right conditions, storms can form outside of traditional hurricane season, which runs from June through November.

Hurricane Lenny, 1999

Hurricane Lenny tore through the Caribbean in November 1999, nearly reaching Category 5 strength—just 2 mph shy. What made Lenny truly historic wasn’t just its power but its bizarre path: Instead of following the usual east-to-west route, it cut across the Caribbean in reverse, moving west to east. This earned the storm the nickname "Wrong Way Lenny." Along the way, it hammered Puerto Rico, Colombia, Saint Croix and the Leeward Islands, leaving behind widespread destruction and claiming 17 lives.

Hurricane Epsilon, 2005

Hurricane Epsilon formed late in the record-shattering 2005 season that included the devastating Hurricane Katrina. The 2005 season was so active that it exhausted the traditional list of names, leading to the use of the Greek alphabet. Epsilon formed on Nov. 29, nearly 1,000 miles east of Bermuda over open waters. By early December, Epsilon reached Category 1 strength in the open Atlantic. While it never posed a threat to land, its persistence in such conditions made it one of the more surprising late-season hurricanes on record.

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