The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season is underway and people are encouraged to start preparing.
- Hurricane season begins June 1. Here's what every North Carolina resident needs to know
- Make a family emergency plan: Be prepared when severe weather arrives
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John Cangialosi is a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. He said in 2024 that warming ocean temperatures could be a factor.
"In some areas, we are seeing ocean temperatures hotter than we've ever recorded, which is alarming," Cangialosi said. "It's very connected to how strong the storms could get."
In 2026, forecasters also anticipate rapidly developing El Niño in the Pacific Ocean.
Forecast models continue to indicate that a very strong El Niño is likely to develop in the coming months. It could be one of the strongest events observed in more than 140 years. In fact, the transition into El Niño may be occurring at one of the fastest rates ever recorded.
However, WRAL is projecting a below-average hurricane season. At the same time, it only takes one tropical storm or hurricane to cause devastation.
The time to prepare is before a storm forms.
Experts recommend doing an insurance check-up. Keep in mind that there’s a 30-day waiting period for most flood insurance.
Officials are encouraging homeowners across the state to check their home’s flood risk on the state’s free portal.
The biggest problem that hurricanes bring – in Raleigh or anywhere in the inland portions of North Carolina – is flood risk. In 2024, Helene's flooding ravaged parts of western North Carolina.
Beyond a tropical system itself, storms can bring other flooding risks, from rising rivers and focused, heavy rain dumping over an area.
Some models show wind risk areas are expanding in the state.
Ian Giammanco is data analytics director and a lead research meteorologist at the IBHS Research Center and told WRAL News in 2024 that building codes play an important role in protecting homes from extreme weather.
"All of the science that we've learned over the past few decades about how we should build to resist the winds we see in hurricanes every year is contained within these codes, so it's really important that they're adopted regularly and that they are enforced with consistency," Giammanco said.