Tropical cyclones in 2020

During 2020, tropical cyclones formed within seven different tropical cyclone basins, located within various parts of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. During the year, 141 tropical cyclones formed in bodies of water known as tropical cyclone basins. Of these, 104, including three subtropical cyclones in the South Atlantic Ocean and three tropical-like cyclones in the Mediterranean, were named by various weather agencies when they attained maximum sustained winds of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) (though one storm was a crossover storm that received two names). The strongest storm of the year was Typhoon Goni, peaking with a pressure of 905 hPa (26.72 inHg) and with 10-minute sustained winds of 220 km/h (140 mph). The deadliest storm of the year was Hurricane Eta which caused 175 fatalities and another 100+ to be missing in Central America and the US, while the costliest storm of the year was Hurricane Laura, with a damage cost around $19.1 billion in the Greater Antilles, The Bahamas, and the Gulf Coast of the United States.

2020 had a slightly above average amount of tropical cyclones forming in the year. The most active basin of the year was the North Atlantic documenting a record 30 named storms, the most named storms ever recorded in a season. This was only one of four known years where the North Atlantic was more active than the West Pacific, the others being 2005, 2010, and 2023. The West Pacific in fact had a below average season with only 23 named storms forming. The Eastern Pacific similarly was below average with 17 named storms forming and merely 4 hurricanes. The inactivity can be blamed on a La Niña pattern which formed during the summer of the year. In the North Indian Ocean was a relatively average season which featured 5 named storms but became the costliest season in recorded history due to the onslaught of Cyclone Amphan in early May. The Southern Hemisphere had relatively average activity throughout much of the year– with the exception of the Australian region which remained below average because of positive IOD– the other South-West Indian Ocean and South Pacific basins featured above-average seasons. Throughout 2020, twenty-three major tropical cyclones formed, including four Category 5 tropical cyclones Saffir–Simpson scale (SSHWS) during the year. The accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) index for the 2020 (seven basins combined), as calculated by Colorado State University (CSU) was 599.1 units.