With warmer-than-normal ocean waters, forecasters are expecting another unusually busy hurricane season for the Atlantic.

With its mighty strength and its dangerous path, Hurricane Milton has powered into a very rare threat that is flirting with experts’ worst fears.

Explosively intensifying Hurricane Milton is the latest freaky system to come out of what veteran hurricane scientists call the weirdest storm season of their lives.

Fast-moving Hurricane Helene is advancing across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida.

After hitting Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and downgrading to a tropical storm, Beryl is expected to once again become a hurricane as it hurtles towards southern Texas by Sunday evening.

Hurricane Beryl’s explosive growth into an unprecedented early storm shows the literal hot water the Atlantic and Caribbean are in right now and the kind of season ahead.

The Atlantic hurricane season has been oddly quiet.

Federal meteorologists say this hurricane season may not be quite as busy as they initially thought, but it should still be more active than normal.

Monday officially marks 100 days until the start of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1, 2022.

(NOAA via AP)With named storms coming earlier and more often in warmer waters, the Atlantic hurricane season is going through some changes with meteorologists ditching the Greek alphabet during busy years. The Greek alphabet had only been used twice in 2005 and nine times last year in a record-shattering hurricane season. AdMeanwhile, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration is recalculating just what constitutes an average hurricane season. STARTING EARLIERMIT hurricane researcher Kerry Emanuel said “this whole idea of hurricane season should be revisited." So a warming world means the new normal is busy hurricane seasons just like the last 30 years.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A record-setting Atlantic hurricane season that saw the highest number of named storms officially came to a close Monday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season set multiple records while producing a record 30 named storms. NOAA said an average season has 12 named storms, six hurricanes and three become major hurricanes. The prior record for named storms hitting Louisiana in a single hurricane season is 4 set in 2002,” Klotzbach said. NOAA said this was the fifth consecutive year with an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season, with 18 above-normal seasons out of the past 26.

Tropical Storm Eta is parked off the western coast of Cuba, dumping rain. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Theta — which formed overnight and broke a record as the 29th named Atlantic storm of the season — is chugging east toward Europe on the cusp of hurricane status. The system now has a 70% chance of becoming the 30th named storm. Never before have three named storms been twirling at the same time this late in the year, Klotzbach said. The overall message is that everyone in the area should pay attention to Eta, Brennan said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – At 5 p.m. the center of Tropical Storm Zeta was crossing the Louisiana coast. The center of Hurricane Zeta was located near latitude 29.2 North, longitude 90.6 West. Weakening will occur while Zeta moves over the southeastern United States on Thursday. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 35 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 150 miles. This year’s season has so many storms that the hurricane center had to turn to the Greek alphabet after running out of official names for only the second time in history.

MIAMI – Newly formed Tropical Storm Zeta gradually strengthened Sunday in the western Caribbean and forecasters said it would likely become a hurricane before hitting Mexico's resort-dotted Yucatan Peninsula and the U.S. Gulf Coast in coming days. Zeta was the earliest named 27th Atlantic storm recorded in an already historic hurricane season. The system was centered about 260 miles (420 kilometers) southeast of Cozumel island late Sunday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The government is still handing out aid, including sheet roofing, to Yucatan residents hit by Hurricane Delta and Tropical Storm Gamma earlier this month. The hurricane center said it could make landfall anywhere from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.

MIAMI – Tropical Storm Epsilon strengthened into a hurricane, the 10th of the Atlantic season. At 5 a.m. the center of Hurricane Epsilon was located near latitude 30.6 North, longitude 60.9 West. On the forecast track, the center of Epsilon is forecast to make its closest approach to, but well to the east of, Bermuda later this evening. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 310 miles. TRACK THE TROPICS: Interactive mapThis year’s hurricane season has had so many storms that the Hurricane Center has turned to the Greek alphabet for storm names after running out of official names.

Forecasters said Beta was not expected to bring the same amount of rainfall that Texas experienced during either Hurricane Harvey in 2017 or Tropical Storm Imelda last year. The first rain bands from Beta reached the Texas coast on Sunday, but the heaviest rain wasn't expected to arrive until Monday into Tuesday. If the system makes landfall in Texas, it would be the ninth named storm to make landfall in the continental U.S. in 2020. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Bermuda. Wilfred, which had been a tropical storm, weakened to a tropical depression earlier Sunday.

The National Hurricane Center wasted no time moving onto the Greek alphabet -- only the second time since the 1950s. The only time the hurricane center dipped into the Greek alphabet was the deadly 2005 hurricane season, which included Hurricane Katrina’s strike on New Orleans. Tropical Storm Beta will meander along the Texas coastline over the next 5 days. pic.twitter.com/YsrpliN9fF — National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 18, 2020What’s Next? The supercharged Atlantic hurricane season has produced so many named storms that scientists ran out of traditional names as Tropical Storm Wilfred developed in the eastern Atlantic.

The Atlantic is increasingly spawning more major hurricanes, according to an Associated Press analysis of NOAA hurricane data since 1950. The Atlantic now averages three major hurricanes a year, based on a 30-year running average. A study by Kossin found that, once a storm formed, the chances of its attaining major storm status globally increased by 8% a decade since 1979. Such a busy period started in 1995 and might end soon as northern Atlantic waters shift to a cooler regime, he said. In addition, he said: Climate change will be a bigger driver of losses in the future.___Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at www.twitter.com/borenbears.

Two tropical storms advanced across the Caribbean on Saturday as potentially historic threats to the U.S. Gulf Coast, one dumping rain on Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Hispaniola while the other swept into the gulf through the gap between Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba. Tropical Storms Laura and Marco were both projected to approach Louisiana's coast at or close to hurricane force just two days apart in the next several days. The last time two tropical storms were in the Gulf together was in 1959, he said. But large uncertainties remained for that time span, and forecasts have varied greatly so far for the two storms. ___Associated Press writer Dánica Coto reported this story in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and AP writer Seth Borenstein reported from Kensington, Md.

MIAMI Josephine just barely held on to its tropical storm status early Friday as it moved over the Atlantic Ocean as the earliest J-named storm in a record-setting hurricane season. Tropical storms have maximum sustained winds between 39 and 73 mph (63 and 117 kph). Josephine was the earliest tenth Atlantic named storm on record, breaking the previous record of Jose, which formed Aug. 22, 2005, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. So far this year, Cristobal, Danielle, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna and Isaias have also set records for being the earliest named Atlantic storms of their respective place in the alphabet. Last month, Hurricane Hanna slammed the Texas Gulf Coast with high winds and rains that flooded streets and knocked out power across the region.

Already smashing records, this years hyperactive Atlantic hurricane season is about to get even nastier, forecasters predict. The agency increased the chance of an above average hurricane season from 60% to 85%. Colorado State University, which pioneered hurricane season forecasts decades ago, on Wednesday amped its forecast to 24 named storms, 12 hurricanes and 5 major hurricanes all higher than their June forecast. An average year, based on 1981 to 2010 data, is 12 named storms, six hurricanes and three major hurricanes. There are 21 names assigned to a hurricane season.

Hurricane Hanna, the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season, strengthened Saturday evening before making landfall at 6 p.m. EDT on Padre Island, pummeling the southeast Texas coast with 90 mph winds. As of 5 p.m. Saturday, the National Hurricane Center reported the system was moving west-southwest at 8 mph and a west-southwest motion is expected to continue through Sunday. The center of Hanna will now move inland over south Texas tonight and move into northeastern Mexico on Sunday. Hurricane Hanna Estimated Rain Totals (wjxt)INTERACTIVE: Track the TropicsA hurricane warning was in effect for Port Mansfield, Texas, to Port Aransas, Texas. Hanna broke the record as the earliest eighth Atlantic named storm, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.

Hanna is expected to make landfall Saturday evening. Hurricane warnings are in effect along the Texas Coast around Corpus Christi. Hanna broke the record as the earliest eighth Atlantic named storm, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. The previous record was Harvey on Aug. 3, 2005, Klotzbach tweeted. Stay alert and review our hurricane section.

As of 5 pm, the National Hurricane Center said Hanna was located about 195 miles east of Corpus Christi, Texas. A tropical storm warning was in effect from the mouth of the Rio Grande to San Luis Pass, Texas, and a tropical storm watch was in effect from San Luis Pass to High Island, Texas. The government of Trinidad and Tobago has issued a Tropical Storm Warning for Tobago and Grenada. The government of St. Lucia has canceled the Tropical Storm Warning for St. Lucia. This has potential for becoming a tropical storm after the weekend and could be in the vicinity of Puerto Rico by Friday next week.

Pedestrians use umbrellas to protect themselves from inclement weather brought about by Tropical Storm Fay, Friday, July 10, 2020, in New York. Beaches closed in Delaware and rain lashed the New Jersey shore as fast-moving Tropical Storm Fay churned north on a path expected to soak the New York City region. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)MIAMI Tropical depression Fay moved north over New York early Saturday and was expected to continue to weaken through the weekend, forecasters said. It weakened once it hit land and was expected to quickly become a post-tropical low, then dissipate on Sunday, forecasters said. Forecasters said Fay was expected to produce 1 to 3 inches (3 to 7 centimeters) of rain, with flash flooding possible in some areas.

ORLANDO, Fla. Even though the six-month Atlantic hurricane season lasts as long as a typical Major League Baseball season, a Florida congresswoman thinks it needs to be longer. In 2020, three tropical storms Arthur, Bertha and Cristobal formed in mid-May and the beginning of June, she said. There has been only one named hurricane before June since the satellite era started in 1966 Hurricane Alma in 1970. I dont think there is any reason to lengthen the hurricane season, since we havent had a hurricane in May in 50 years," Klotzbach said in an email. Hurricane season was also never intended to include ... all of the activity, just the majority of it," said McNoldy, who works for the Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science.