2006 Atlantic Hurricane Season

The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season was significantly less active than the record previous season. It marked the first since 2001 in which no hurricanes made landfall in the United States, and was the first since 1994 that no tropical cyclones formed during October. Following the intense activity of 2005, forecasters predicted that the 2006 season would be only slightly less active. Instead a rapidly forming moderate El Niño event in 2006, activity was slowed by the presence of the Saharan Air Layer over the tropical Atlantic and the steady presence of a robust secondary high pressure area to the Azores high centered around Bermuda. There were no tropical cyclones after October 2.

Tropical Storm Alberto was indirectly responsible for two deaths when it made landfall in Florida. Hurricane Ernesto caused heavy rainfall in Haiti, and directly killed at least seven in Haiti and the United States. Four hurricanes formed after Ernesto, including the strongest storms of the season, Hurricanes Helene and Gordon. In total, the season was responsible for 14 deaths and $500 million (2006 USD; $576 million 2012 USD) in damage. The calendar year 2006 also saw Tropical Storm Zeta, which arose in December 2005 and persisted until early January, only the second such event on record. The storm can be considered a part of the 2005 and 2006 seasons, although it occurred outside of the June 1 – November 30 windows during which most Atlantic basin tropical cyclones form.