--- title: Hurricane Season 2016: Report Suggests Average Season description: Leading meteorologists projected this year's Atlantic tropical storm season will likely be near average canonical: https://time.com/4294151/hurricane-season-2016/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-14T17:16:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:45:36.277Z article:section: Science og:title: Hurricane Season 2016: Report Suggests Average Season og:description: Leading meteorologists projected this year's Atlantic tropical storm season will likely be near average og:url: https://time.com/4294151/hurricane-season-2016/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc8b764307ded09a9/69888f270a4a220ded9c93ee/hurricane-season-2016.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: hurricane season 2016 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hurricane Season 2016: Report Suggests Average Season twitter:description: Leading meteorologists projected this year's Atlantic tropical storm season will likely be near average twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc8b764307ded09a9/69888f270a4a220ded9c93ee/hurricane-season-2016.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hurricane Season Forecast to Ramp Up After Tame 2015  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 14, 2016 5:16 PM CUT  Palm trees at a hotel bend in the fierce winds as Hurricane Wilma slams into Naples, Florida on 24 Oct., 2005. Palm trees at a hotel bend in the fierce winds as Hurricane Wilma slams into Naples, Florida on 24 Oct., 2005.Stan Honda—AFP/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 14, 2016 5:16 PM CUT Leading meteorologists have [projected](http://tropical.atmos.colostate.edu/Forecasts/2016/apr2016/apr2016.pdf "undefined") this year’s Atlantic tropical storm season will return to near average levels after a comparatively quiet season in 2015. The hurricane season will be influenced by the waning of El Niño, a climate phenomenon that typically suppresses hurricane activity, according to the report by meteorologists Philip J. Klotzbach and William M. Gray of Colorado State University. Still, extreme cold temperatures currently present in the North Atlantic are associated with a slower hurricane season, the report says. In total, the report projects a total of 20 hurricane days, 12 named storms and two major hurricanes of category three or more in 2016. Coastal residents experienced a remarkably [tame hurricane season](http://time.com/3996227/el-nino-forecast/ "undefined") last year at least in part due to El Niño. While 11 named tropical storms formed in the Atlantic, not a single one [made landfall](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tracks/tracks-at-2015.png "undefined") in the U.S. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4294151/hurricane-season-2016/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4294151/hurricane-season-2016/"},"headline":"Hurricane Season Forecast to Ramp Up After Tame 2015","datePublished":"2016-04-14T17:16:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:45:36.277Z","description":"New report suggests return to average after remarkably quiet hurricane season last year","url":"https://time.com/4294151/hurricane-season-2016/","keywords":["weather"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc8b764307ded09a9/69888f270a4a220ded9c93ee/hurricane-season-2016.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc8b764307ded09a9/69888f270a4a220ded9c93ee/hurricane-season-2016.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"hurricane season 2016","caption":"hurricane season 2016","creditText":"Stan Honda—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/weather/","name":"weather"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4294151/hurricane-season-2016/","name":"Hurricane Season Forecast to Ramp Up After Tame 2015"}}]}] ```