Isaias finally became the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season almost a month later than the previous record-long wait for the basin's first hurricane during an intensifying super El Niño.

(ISAIAS COVERAGE: Forecast | Maps tracker)

The Gulf storm was upgraded to a hurricane late Wednesday night, based on data from a Hurricane Hunter mission.

Record-long wait

Until the night of Oct. 7, the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season was shut out of hurricanes for the first four months.

That was largely due to the intensifying super El Niño generating hostile conditions for hurricanes, like high wind shear and dry, sinking air over key stretches of the tropical Atlantic Basin.

In the 60-year modern era in which satellites have routinely covered the Atlantic Basin, this is by far the longest we've waited for the first hurricane.

Get More of Our News on Google

Set The Weather Company as a 'Preferred Source' to get quicker access to the news you value.

The previous record-long wait in the satellite era was until Sept. 11, both in 2013 and 2002.

Not only did 2026 crush that record by almost a month, but it was also the first season without a single hurricane in September, usually the peak of hurricane season.

Typically, the season's first hurricane has arrived either in July or August.

Another record could fall

If the Atlantic Basin fails to generate another hurricane after Isaias, it would be the fewest hurricanes (one) of any season in the satellite era.

The 1982 and 2013 seasons each generated only two hurricanes.

There were several other years with zero (1907 and 1914) or one (1905 and 1925) hurricane, but those were decades before satellites were put into space, so it's possible one or more hurricanes could have happened over the open ocean without any unlucky ships to record them.

Could it happen this year?

An average season generates two more hurricanes after Oct. 7, according to the National Hurricane Center.

But when we examined the four previous modern-era hurricane seasons during a super El Niño, only one hurricane developed after Oct. 7.

That was Hurricane Kate, which curled away from the East Coast in mid-November 2015.

So, the odds seem to be in favor of that modern record being set in what may truly be the 2026 Atlantic hurricane (singular) season.

The Weather Company and Kalshi, a CFTC-regulated event-contract exchange, share data: we provide certain data Kalshi uses to resolve markets, and Kalshi provides market data featured in content like this article. Kalshi alone operates its event-contract exchange and is responsible for the contracts, trading, and settlement on its exchange. If you use our links to communicate with Kalshi and then open a Kalshi account or trade on Kalshi, we may earn a fee.

For Kalshi’s complete member agreement, click here.

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.