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Q4 2021

Atlantic named Windstorm Season Update

The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season saw a flurry of tropical storms form in the first half of the season. Despite a relatively quiet second half of the season, 2021 will rank as one of the busiest on record.
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By John Cooper , 

Global Chief Client Officer, Energy & Power, Marsh Specialty

01/20/2022 · 2 minute read

The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season saw a flurry of tropical storms form in the first half of the season. Despite a relatively quiet second half of the season, 2021 will rank as one of the busiest on record. Only 2005 and 2020 experienced a larger number of named storms than the 21 that formed during 2021.

Offshore energy underwriters writing named windstorm cover in the Gulf of Mexico experienced a benign year in terms of losses — the 23rd year without significant loss — following the substantial losses the market suffered in 2004, 2005 and 2008 that changed the landscape of the market.

Onshore energy underwriters also appear to have suffered relatively light losses, with a lot of the flood damage caused to energy facilities being self-insured, in captives or in mutuals.

The chart below plots the latest 2021 Atlantic Basin tropical storm activity against forecasts from Tropical Storm Risk (TSR), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Colorado State University (CSU), as well as the 71 year (as far back a modern records go), and the 10-year averages.

2021 Hurricane Season Highlights

  • Twenty-one named storms formed in the Atlantic this season. This is the third most in a single Atlantic season on record, trailing 2020 (30 named storms) and 2005 (28 named storms).
  • Four hurricanes (Grace, Henri, Ida, and Larry) formed in the Atlantic between August 18 and September 2. This was the first time on record that more than three hurricanes formed between these two dates.
  • The Atlantic had no named storm activity between October 3 and October 30 — the first time since 2006 that the Atlantic had no named storm activity between these two dates.
  • Hurricane Elsa was the earliest fifth Atlantic named storm formation on record (named on July 1). Elsa broke the old earliest fifth Atlantic named storm formation record set by Edouard (on July 6, 2020).
  • Hurricane Ida made landfall with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph — tied with the Last Island Hurricane of 1856 and Hurricane Laura (2020) for strongest winds for a Louisiana hurricane on record.
  • Hurricane Sam was a major hurricane for 7.75 days, tied with Hurricane Edouard (1996) for the fourth most consecutive days at major hurricane strength in the satellite era (1966 onwards).

Source: Colorado State University

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