Atlantic sees 5 simultaneous tropical cyclones for the 2nd time ever

This satellite photo provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Tropical Storm Sally, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, at 2050 GMT.
(Image credit: NOAA / ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season continues to be unusually busy.

The Atlantic Ocean on Monday had five active tropical cyclones in it at once for just the second time in recorded history, according to CNN and ABC News. One is Hurricane Sally, which was just upgraded from a tropical storm on Monday and is "expected to be a dangerous slow-moving hurricane near the coast of southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama," according to the National Hurricane Center. There's also Hurricane Paulette, as well as Tropical Storm Teddy, Tropical Storm Vicky, and Tropical Depression Rene.

The last time that there were five active tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean at the same time was in 1971, and that's the only other time it's happened in recorded history, according to CNN.

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When Tropical Storm Vicky became the 20th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, it also became the earliest 20th named storm ever, per ABC News. For comparison, ABC notes, the previous earliest 20th named storm came on Oct. 5, 2005. In August, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast there would be up to 25 named storms during the "extremely active" 2020 Atlantic hurricane season compared to the average of 12 named storms in a season.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.