2020 had 102 tropical storms, well above world average, NOAA report says

It happened everywhere.

Storm totals exceeded records all over the world, according to an international study from 60 countries detailed in the “State of the Climate in 2020″ report released Wednesday. The annual report is compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information and published by the American Meteorological Society.

In both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, scientists recorded 102 tropical storms. It’s a total far above the 1981–2010 average of 85, according to the study.

In the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, scientists observed a total of 30 storms—a record in its own right breaking the 2005 record of 28, according to the NOAA.

The Atlantic also had seven major hurricanes, or storms with maximum sustained winds greater than 110 mph (Category 3 or higher). One of those major storms was the development of Category 4 Hurricane Iota, which gave meteorologists a surprise last year as Category 4 storms rarely develop in November when waters begin to cool and the season comes to an end.

The year was also historic for the number of landfalling storms observed in the United States, coming in at 12. The previous record was nine.