CAPE CORAL, Fla. — There are 100 days until June 1, the official start of hurricane season. So what names can we expect to see for the upcoming season?
The 2025 list of names starts with Andrea and moves onto Barry. (The list of names cycles every six years, so some of these names may look familiar from the 2019 season.) But you will see a new name this year, Dexter.
"Dexter" has replaced "Dorian", a catastrophic Category 5 that struck the Bahamas, specifically the Abaco Islands, on September 1, 2019. Dorian set the record for the costliest and strongest hurricane in the history of the Bahamas, which is why the World Meteorological Organization retired the name.
Last year's season, 2024, ended with 18 named storms (winds of 39 mph or greater).
Eleven of those were hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or greater) and five intensified to major hurricanes (winds of 111 mph or greater). Five hurricanes made landfall in the continental U.S. Two storms made landfall as major hurricanes, Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which both impacted Florida's Gulf Coast, severely damaging parts of our coast.
Hurricane Helene, which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane along the Florida Gulf Coast on September 26, caused destructive storm surge flooding along our Gulf Coast and later catastrophic flooding across the southern Appalachians, especially in the North Carolina mountains. Preliminary data indicate that Helene was the deadliest hurricane to affect the continental U.S. since Katrina in 2005.
Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 near Siesta Key on October 9, causing an unprecedented tornado outbreak that produced 46 tornadoes. Milton also caused a destructive storm surge between Siesta Key to Ft. Myers Beach, including Charlotte Harbor.
Aside from Helene and Milton, of note, 2024's Hurricane Beryl was the earliest Atlantic basin Category-5 hurricane on record.
