We're just over one month into the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season. Forecasters are expecting another active season, so it's important to know where tropical systems could form this month.


What You Need To Know

  • July is typically a quiet month for the tropics

  • Tropical activity tends to pick up later in the season

  • Strong hurricanes can still form this month

Historically, July is still a relatively quiet month across the Atlantic basin for tropical activity. According to NOAA, July only accounts for 7% of the Atlantic's named storms since 1851, and less than 6% of hurricanes.

There are a handful of limiting factors working against tropical development this month. Saharan dust outbreaks are still common this time of the year, and sea surface temperatures across the Atlantic's main development region are still warming up, so tropical waves that track across the length of the Atlantic Ocean and survive to make landfall in the U.S. aren't too common.

The most common areas for tropical development this month are closer to land. These home-grown systems can spin up in the Gulf or off the Atlantic coast over the Gulf stream, where waters are slightly warmer and conditions are more favorable. 

Just because tropical systems don't usually form in July doesn't mean they can't.

Last year, Hurricane Beryl became the earliest Category 5 storm in the Atlantic basin on record in early July. It made three landfalls, eventually moving inland over the U.S. near Matagorda, Texas, on July 8, 2024 as a Category 1 storm.

Only three major hurricanes have made landfall in the U.S. during July. Most recently, Hurricane Dennis in 2005. 

Dennis made landfall on Santa Rosa Island, Florida, as a Category 3 hurricane on July 10. It caused almost $4 billion of damage across the U.S. and Caribbean, and was responsible for 90 deaths, 17 in the U.S.

The other two major hurricanes to make landfall in July were from the early 1900s. The Gulf Coast Hurricane of 1916 made landfall on July 5, 1916, near Pascagoula, Mississippi, as a Category 3 hurricane, claiming at least 34 lives.

The 1909 Velasco hurricane made landfall near Velasco, Texas, on July 21, 1909 as a Category 3 hurricane, causing 41 deaths. 

Development zones expand and tropical activity increases as we get further into summer. 

Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

Reid Lybarger - Digital Weather Producer

Reid Lybarger is a Digital Weather Producer for Spectrum News. He graduated from Florida State University in 2015 with a Bachelor's of Science in Meteorology. He began his career in local TV news working across Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida for 7 years prior to joining Spectrum in 2022. He's excited for the opportunity to continue to inform the public about the latest weather news with Spectrum.

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