No Hurricanes Yet in 2026, But Nature Coast Watch Continues Through November
Tropical Storm Gonzalo formed far off Africa this week, extending an unusually quiet Atlantic season that has yet to produce a hurricane past its historic peak.
A quiet season, so far
The Atlantic basin has gone through its climatological peak, Sept. 10, without producing a single hurricane in 2026, according to a report from WUFT News. That has not happened often. Records for the basin go back to the late 1800s, and forecasters say this season is on pace to be only the third in that stretch to reach late September with no hurricane on the books.
For Cedar Key and the rest of the Nature Coast, that is a fact worth noting but not a reason to stand down. The season runs through Nov. 30, and forecasters quoted by WUFT say there is still time for a storm to develop.
What Gonzalo is and is not
Tropical Storm Gonzalo formed Thursday in the far eastern Atlantic, near the Cabo Verde Islands off the coast of Africa. Forecast models are in near-complete agreement that Gonzalo will track toward the islands, not toward the United States, and that it will bring gusty wind and heavy rain to Cabo Verde without ever strengthening into a hurricane. Increasing wind shear, cooler ocean water and dry air are the reasons cited for keeping Gonzalo below the 74-mph hurricane threshold.
There is no indication in the current forecast that Gonzalo poses any risk to Florida, the Gulf or the Caribbean.
Fay, weakening in open water
The other named storm in play, Tropical Storm Fay, remains parked over the central Atlantic, between Bermuda and the Azores, well clear of land in any direction, including Florida. Forecasters expect Fay to weaken and dissipate over the coming week. With both Gonzalo and Fay forecast to stay weak and far from any coastline, the Atlantic’s hurricane count is set to remain at zero through the end of September.
Why this matters here
September is typically the Atlantic’s most active month, and an average season already would have produced multiple hurricanes, some of them major, with sustained winds of at least 115 mph, by this point. That has not happened in 2026, even in what forecasters describe as an El Niño year, when a lack of hurricanes is somewhat more expected but still unusual for this stretch of the calendar.
Forecast models tracked by the WUFT report do not show any significant tropical cyclone developing in the Gulf, the Caribbean or the wider Atlantic over at least the next 10 days. The next system to earn a name, if one forms, would be Hanna.
None of this changes the guidance that applies every year on this coast: hurricane season is not over, and a quiet stretch through September has, in past years, been followed by late-season development in October and November. Levy County’s emergency management planning and evacuation routes remain in place regardless of the current lull.
Elsewhere, a different story
The quiet in the Atlantic stands in contrast to the eastern and central Pacific, where nine hurricanes have formed this year, five of them reaching major-hurricane strength, activity that has included threats to Hawaii and Mexico not typical of every season. That activity does not affect Florida directly, but it underscores that global tropical patterns this year are not behaving in an average way, in either ocean basin.
Florida & Cedar Key News will continue tracking National Hurricane Center advisories through the rest of the season and will report any system that develops a track toward the Gulf or the Nature Coast.