Gulf Coast residents should expect a quiet hurricane season

As residents of the Gulf Coast eye the calendar and see the meat of August still looming, there are still lingering anxieties about what this year’s hurricane season might hold. Louisiana has historically taken a wallop during busy storm seasons in the month of August … could we see some relief in the summer of 2026?

LSU Health climatologist Barry Keim says wary citizens across the Gulf Coast should always stay weather-aware, but can probably rest easy moving forward. He points to recent projections from Colorado State University's weather center that forecast a total of nine named storms this hurricane season. "Just to put that in perspective, an average season would call for fourteen, so we're talking about something considerably below normal. We're excited about that," noted Keim. While the hurricane season is projected to remain remarkably calm this year, Keim is quick to remind Gulf Coast residents that they should remain weather-aware ... because it only takes one big storm to cause a lot of damage. "They're predicting four hurricanes and out of those one should become a major hurricane," Keim says.

---

Of the nine projected major storms, two have already hit the region in tropical storms Arthur and Bertha. That leaves only seven potential storms remaining. While that's welcome news to plenty of Gulf Coast residents, Keim and other officials remind those who live in the area to stay aware of any potential threats off the coast and be ready to evacuate in case of emergency.