KARK’s Arkansas Storm Team noted Sunday, June 1, 2026, as the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season — the date the National Hurricane Center uses each year to open the six-month tracking period that runs through November 30.
The station’s storm blog flagged the start of the season without detailing specific storm activity or forecast outlooks for the opening days.
Background
Arkansas sits well inland, but that doesn’t put it out of reach. Weakened tropical systems that push north after making landfall on the Gulf Coast have dropped heavy rainfall across the state before — sometimes flooding river bottoms and low-lying roads days after a storm’s winds have died down hundreds of miles to the south.
The Atlantic basin averages roughly 14 named storms per season, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, though seasonal outlooks vary year to year based on sea surface temperatures and wind shear patterns. NOAA typically releases its official seasonal forecast before June 1; KARK’s blog post didn’t reference those numbers.
June itself tends to be one of the quieter months of the season. Activity usually picks up in August and peaks around mid-September — which is when forecasters watch the tropics most closely and when Arkansas emergency managers typically remind residents to review their severe weather plans.
KARK hasn’t yet posted an extended forecast or storm-by-storm outlook tied to the season opener.
Reporting from KARK's Arkansas Storm Team Blog. Read the original report.
