2026 Pacific hurricane season
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The 2026 Pacific hurricane season is the current Pacific hurricane season for the Northern Hemisphere. The season officially began on May 15, 2026, and will end on November 30, 2026. For the Central Pacific (140°W to 180°), the season begins on June 1, 2026, and ends on November 30, 2026, with the most active period typically occurring between July and October. Those dates, adopted by convention, describe the period in which most subtropical or tropical cyclogenesis occurs in the Pacific Ocean.
| 2026 Pacific hurricane season | |
|---|---|
| Seasonal boundaries | |
| First system formed | None yet |
| Last system dissipated | Season ongoing |
| Seasonal statistics | |
| Total fatalities | None |
| Total damage | None |
| Related articles | |
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) began issuing routine Tropical Weather Outlooks for east of 140ºW on May 15, 2026, and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center will begin issuing routine Tropical Weather Outlooks for west of 140ºW and east of 180º on June 1, 2026, both on the same date as the seasons starting dates.
Seasonal forecasts
| Record | Named storms |
Hurricanes | Major hurricanes |
ACE | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average (1991–2020): | 15.4 | 8.3 | 4.2 | 100.5 | [1] | |
| Record high activity: | 27 | 16† | 11 | 318.1 | [2] | |
| Record low activity: | 8† | 3 | 0† | 22.3 | [2] | |
| Date | Source | Named storms |
Hurricanes | Major hurricanes |
ACE | Ref |
| April 22, 2026 | SMN | 18–21 | 9–11 | 4–5 | N/A | [3] |
| May 21, 2026 | NOAA | 15–22 | 9–14 | 5–9 | N/A | [4] |
| Area | Named storms |
Hurricanes | Major hurricanes |
ACE | Ref | |
| Actual activity: | EPAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Actual activity: | CPAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Actual combined activity: | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| * May 15–November 30 only
† Most recent of several such occurrences. (See all) | ||||||
In advance of each Pacific hurricane season, forecasts of hurricane activity are issued by forecasters from the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Climate Prediction Center, and Mexico's Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (SMN). The forecasts include weekly and monthly changes in significant factors that help determine the amount of tropical storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes within a particular season.
According to NOAA, the average Pacific hurricane season between 1991 and 2020 contained about 15 named storms, 8 hurricanes, and 4 major hurricanes (Category 3 and higher), as well as a median accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) index of 75.38–110.55 units.[1] Broadly speaking, ACE is the measure of the power of a tropical or subtropical cyclone multiplied by the length of time it existed. ACE is only calculated for full advisories on specific tropical or subtropical cyclones reaching wind speeds of 39 mph (63 km/h) or higher. NOAA typically describes a season as above-average, average, or below-average depending on the cumulative ACE index, but the number of tropical storms, hurricanes or major hurricanes can also be considered.
On April 22, 2026, Mexico's National Meteorological Service (SMN) issued its first forecast for the Pacific hurricane season, predicting 18–21 named storms, 9–11 hurricanes and 4–5 major hurricanes (category 3 and above on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale). This is the first forecast issued in April since 2015, mainly due to rising sea surface temperatures and reduced wind shear in the Pacific Ocean, caused by the formation of a very-strong El Niño event expected to begin in the summer of 2026. In addition, many global computer models predicted a positive Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), a phase of a multi-decadal cycle that favored the continuation of much warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures, which had been occurring since 2023, unlike the 1991-2020 period, which was generally characterized by above-normal activity.[3]
On May 21, 2026, NOAA issued its forecast, indicating an above-normal season with 15–22 named storms, 9–14 hurricanes, and 5–9 major hurricanes. The forecast predicted a very strong El Niño continuing throughout the season, which reduces vertical wind shear across the basin and increases sea surface temperature, favoring greater tropical cyclone activity. In addition, many global computer models anticipated a positive Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), a phase of a multi-decade cycle that favors much warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures, which had been occurring since 2023.[4]
Storm names
The following list of names will be used for named storms that form in the North Pacific Ocean east of 140°W during 2026.[5] This is the same list used in the 2020 season.
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For storms that form in the North Pacific from 140°W to the International Date Line, the names come from a series of four rotating lists. Names are used one after the other without regard to year, and when the bottom of one list is reached, the next named storm receives the name at the top of the next list.[5] Any named storms that form within the area in 2026 will be listed below. Named storms in the table above that cross into the area during the season are noted (*).
Season effects
The following is a table which will include all of the storms that form in the 2026 Pacific hurricane season. It will include their duration, names, intensities, areas affected, damages, and death totals. Deaths in parentheses are additional and indirect (an example of an indirect death would be a traffic accident), but were still related to that storm. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical, a wave, or a low, and all of the damage figures are in 2026 USD.
| Saffir–Simpson scale | ||||||
| TD | TS | C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 | C5 |
| Storm name |
Dates active | Storm category at peak intensity |
Max 1-min wind mph (km/h) |
Min. press. (mbar) |
Areas affected | Damage (US$) |
Deaths | Ref(s). | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season aggregates | ||||||||||
| 0 systems | Season ongoing | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
See also
- Weather of 2026
- Tropical cyclones in 2026
- 2026 Atlantic hurricane season
- 2026 Pacific typhoon season
- 2026 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
- South-West Indian Ocean cyclone seasons: 2025–26, 2026–27
- Australian region cyclone seasons: 2025–26, 2026–27
- South Pacific cyclone seasons: 2025–26, 2026–27