Tropical Storm Alberto

Duration June 10—June 14
Intensity 70 mph (110 km/h), 995 mbar
Main article: Tropical Storm Alberto (2006)
On June 10, an area of disturbed weather associated with a broad low pressure area off the coast of Belize organized over the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea and became the first tropical depression of the season. Southwesterly vertical wind shear was a constant companion to this system, but as it moved closer to Florida, the depression strengthened into a tropical storm on the morning of June 11. Passing over the warm deep water of the Loop Current allowed accelerated development, and the cyclone's maximum sustained winds increased to its peak strength of 70 mph (115 km/h), just shy of hurricane strength. Subsequent weakening occurred as it moved over the cooler waters of the continental shelf.[14]

Alberto made landfall midday on June 13, about 50 miles (85 km) southeast of Tallahassee, Florida, with windspeeds of approximately 45 mph.[15] Alberto brought a storm surge of five feet to the Big Bend area of the Florida coastline, flooding areas of Cedar Key and Crystal River. The large system was slow to weaken, moving across Georgia and the Carolinas before being downgraded to a tropical depression early on June 14. Alberto became an extratropical storm that morning while quickly moving towards the coast. As an extratropical storm, Alberto strengthened rapidly offshore New England and the Canadian Maritimes, becoming an oceanic storm by the afternoon of June 15.[16][17] Damage in the United States totaled to $565,000 (2006 USD).

Tropical Storm Beryl

Duration July 18—July 21
Intensity 60 mph (95 km/h), 1000 mbar
Main article: Tropical Storm Beryl (2006)
In mid-July, a front moved off the east coast of the United States and stalled, spawning a series of low pressure areas. Because steering currents were weak, the most southerly disturbance slowly drifted to the south, and gradually became more organized a few hundred miles east of the North Carolina coast. On the morning of July 18, the low pressure area was designated the second tropical cyclone of the season, ending more than a month of inactivity in the Atlantic Basin. That afternoon, the depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Beryl.[18]

Beryl continued moving to the north until it turned to the northeast on July 20. Beryl paralleled the East Coast of the United States and crossed over Nantucket island before becoming extratropical southwest of Nova Scotia on July 21.

Tropical Storm Chris

Duration July 31—August 5
Intensity 65 mph (100 km/h), 1001 mbar
Main article: Tropical Storm Chris (2006)
On about July 26, a vigorous tropical wave formed off the coast of Africa and slowly tracked westward. It slowly developed due to poor environmental conditions and it became a tropical depression late on July 31 about 160 miles (260 km) east of Antigua.[19] The depression soon strengthened further and was named Tropical Storm Chris six hours later.[20] National Hurricane Center forecasters dismissed some computer models, which dissipated Chris quickly, as they did not have a handle on the strength of the storm.[21] Tropical Storm Chris moved to the northwest and gradually strengthened before reaching its peak strength on August 2 with winds of 65 mph (100 km/h), when it was to the northeast of the United States Virgin Islands.[22] The storm was forecast to strengthen further and become a hurricane as it moved into the Bahamas. However, Chris began to be affected by wind shear and became disorganized. The storm weakened to a tropical depression on August 4, and dissipated as it approached the Cuban coast.

In response to the storm's projected path into the Gulf of Mexico, prices for crude oil rose on the New York Mercantile Exchange at branch offices in London.[23] Natural gas prices rose considerably in New York Mercantile Exchange electronic trading on August 2. Anticipation of a threat to supply by a potential Hurricane Chris coupled with high demand during an ongoing heat wave are cited as reasons for the price move.[24] On August 2 approximately 600 tourists evacuated the Puerto Rican islands of Vieques and Culebra as tropical storm warnings had been issued.[25] Cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean re-routed their ships to avoid the storm. [26] In Puerto Rico, rainfall from the storm caused the Fajardo River to overflow its banks. The overflown waters temporarily closed a highway in the northeastern portion of the island. [27] Rainfall reached up to 2 inches (50 mm) across portions of Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, and eastern Cuba, and reached 4 inches (100 mm) in some mountainous areas.[28]

Tropical Storm Debby

Duration August 21—August 26
Intensity 50 mph (85 km/h), 999 mbar
Main article: Tropical Storm Debby (2006)
A system off the coast of Africa, which the NHC had monitored for several days, was upgraded to tropical depression status on August 21 and designated as Tropical Depression Four. A tropical storm warning was immediately issued for the Cape Verde islands as the system threatened to pass over or near the southern part of the archipelago. However, the system failed to strengthen into a tropical storm before passing the chain of islands, and the warning was discontinued the following morning.

The depression was upgraded to a tropical storm and named Debby late on August 22. While it had been expected to strengthen into a hurricane, this never occurred, and Debby weakened into a tropical depression on August 26. It continued to the north and lost tropical characteristics on August 27.

Hurricane Ernesto

Duration August 24—September 1
Intensity 75 mph (120 km/h), 985 mbar
At 3:15 p.m. EDT (1915 UTC) on August 24, a reconnaissance flight determined that a tropical wave passing through the Windward Islands had developed a closed tropical circulation, and advisories were commenced on Tropical Depression Five. By 5 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC) on August 25, a second flight had found sustained tropical-storm force winds, and the system was named Ernesto. Ernesto became a hurricane on the morning of August 27 just south of Haiti, before it was downgraded back to a tropical storm in the afternoon. The storm caused 2 deaths in Haiti due to rainfall.

Ernesto made landfall near Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, early in the morning on August 28. At one point the storm was predicted to become a major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico and threaten parts of the Gulf Coast, a grim possibility in light of the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall[29]. However, Ernesto moved much farther east than anticipated, and made landfall as a tropical storm on the southern tip of Florida on August 29. Two people died in Florida in road traffic accidents attributed to the weather conditions, as the cyclone slowly moved northward across the southern half of the peninsula. Ernesto retained tropical storm as it crossed Florida and emerged from land near Cape Canaveral, and was just below hurricane strength when it made landfall again in North Carolina on August 31.

Damage in Virginia totaled to $104 million (2006 USD)[30], and in total the storm caused about $500 million (2006 USD) in damage.[31]

Hurricane Florence

Duration September 3—September 12
Intensity 90 mph (145 km/h), 972 mbar
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Bermuda hit hard by hurricane FlorenceTropical Depression Six formed from an area of low pressure midway between Africa and the Lesser Antilles on September 3. Initial strengthening of the depression was slow due to shearing wind conditions. Despite the moderate to high wind shear, it strengthened enough to become Tropical Storm Florence on the morning of September 5. After becoming a tropical storm, Florence's wind field began to expand greatly; at one point tropical storm-force winds extended outward up to 405 miles from the center. With a disorganized structure and multiple circulation centers, Florence remained a weak tropical storm for several days, even after external conditions became favorable for strengthening. Around the evening of September 8 it resolved to a single center and steady strengthening resumed - "science had prevailed", as one forecaster remarked[32]. On the morning of September 10, Florence reached hurricane strength. Large swells, rip tide, and undertow were reported on Bermuda, the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Hispaniola. [33] Florence soon reached its peak as a Category 1 hurricane very near Bermuda, and became extratropical on September 12, while still a hurricane.

Hurricane Gordon

Duration September 11—September 20
Intensity 120 mph (195 km/h), 955 mbar
Main article: Hurricane Gordon (2006)
As Florence moved away, a low-pressure system gradually became more organized northeast of the Lesser Antilles. On the evening of September 10, it developed a closed circulation and was declared Tropical Depression Seven. It continued to intensify, and strengthened into Tropical Storm Gordon on September 11 and Hurricane Gordon late on September 12. Gordon attained Category 2 status on the evening of September 13, and was further upgraded to Category 3 status that same night, making it the first major hurricane of the season.

Around September 16 it was nearly stationary for some time in the mid-Atlantic about 1000 miles east of Bermuda, and weakened to be barely a hurricane. However, as it subsequently accelerated eastwards, it restrengthened to category 2. On September 19 hurricane warnings were issued for the Azores, as the predicted path passed through the center of that archipelago. It became extratropical on September 20 after passing through Azorean waters, but the remnants side-swiped north-western Spain and then moved rapidly north towards Ireland and the west of Britain on September 21. By the morning of September 22, it had become absorbed into a large Atlantic low to the west of Ireland.

Hurricane Helene

Duration September 12—September 24
Intensity 120 mph (195 km/h), 955 mbar[34]
Main article: Hurricane Helene (2006)
On September 11, a tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa. It quickly organized, and on September 12 was declared Tropical Depression Eight. Continuing to organize, it reached tropical storm strength on September 13, becoming a hurricane on September 16 and a major hurricane on September 17. It moved generally west-northwestward before commencing a northeasterly turn. Large currents from Helene lashed Bermuda. It became fully extratropical on September 24.

Hurricane Isaac

Duration September 27—October 2
Intensity 85 mph (135 km/h), 985 mbar
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Hurricane Isaac heads toward Atlantic Canada
Tropical Storm Isaac hits Newfoundland
An area of low pressure in mid-Atlantic generated active thunderstorms for several days and eventually organized into Tropical Depression Nine on September 27 and a tropical storm by September 28. By that time it was about 810 miles east-southeast of Bermuda. It became a hurricane on September 30, and passed about 280 miles (450 km) east of Bermuda before swinging northwards towards Newfoundland. As it was still a strong tropical storm near the Avalon Peninsula, tropical storm warnings were issued on October 2 due to the potential for high winds. Isaac passed 45 km (30 miles) to the southeast of Cape Race late that afternoon. The Canadian Hurricane Centre reports that if Isaac had tracked just 50 to 100 km (30 to 60 miles) farther north than it did, the St. John's area would have experienced much higher winds than the peak gust of 54 km/h (34 mph) it received.[35]

At its closest approach to the Avalon Peninsula, Isaac was still tropical, and had maximum sustained winds of 50 knots and a minimum central pressure of 993 mbar.[35] Strongest winds on land in Newfoundland were reported at Cape Race, where a maximum gust to 96 km/h (60 mph) with a sustained wind of 74 km/h (46 mph) was recorded. At Cape Pine, a peak wind was reported at 76 km/h (47 mph).[35] However, due to Isaac's small size and fast forward speed, winds were lighter over most of the Avalon Peninsula.

Rainfall from Isaac was not reported to be higher than 25 mm (0.98 inches) in most areas due to Isaac's speed and decreasing amount of moisture. The highest measured amount was 26 mm (1.02 inch) at Cape Race, while Cape Pine reported 19 mm (0.75 inches) and St. John's reported less than 10 mm (0.39 inches).[35]