The 1997 Atlantic hurricane season is the most recent Atlantic hurricane season to feature no tropical cyclones in August. The season officially began on June 1, 1997, and lasted until November 30, 1997. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin.
The 1997 season was inactive, with only seven named storms forming, with an additional tropical depression and an unnumbered subtropical storm. It was the first time since the 1961 season that there were no active tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin during the entire month of August. A strong El Niño is credited with reducing the number of storms in the Atlantic, while increasing the number of storms in the Eastern and Western Pacific basin to 19 and 29 storms, respectively. As is common in El Niño years, tropical cyclogenesis was suppressed in the tropical latitudes, with only two becoming tropical storms south of 25°N.
The most notable storm was Hurricane Danny, which killed nine people and caused an estimated $100 million (1997 USD, $145 million 2012 USD) in damage when it made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River and the Mobile Bay area. Hurricane Erika, the strongest storm of the season, passed within 85 mi (137 km) of the Lesser Antilles, far enough away to prevent hurricane conditions from reaching land, although minor damage still occurred. In addition, Hurricane Bill, Tropical Storm Claudette, and the precursor of Tropical Storm Grace also caused minor affects on land.
Read more about 1997 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Storms, Storm Names, Season Effects
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