Hurricane forecasters fear supercharged, early-season storms in 2026

Just two weeks into the 1972 hurricane season, a tropical depression formed near the Yucatán Peninsula. When it moved ashore in the Florida Panhandle just four days later as a weak Hurricane Agnes, it became – and remains – one of the costliest storms ever to strike the U.S. mainland.

Agnes, still a landmark event in Pennsylvania and New York communities even after 50-plus years, is a textbook example of the grave warnings coming from the nation's leading hurricane forecasters as the 2026 hurricane season begins. Devastating early season storms can and do occur, even during El Niño, and could happen again...