Ophelia becomes 10th Atlantic hurricane of season, matching 124-year-old record

With Tropical Storm Ophelia’s transition to Hurricane Ophelia on Wednesday, 2017 became the first year in more than a century — and only the fourth on record — in which 10 Atlantic storms in a row reached hurricane strength.

Franklin. Gert. Harvey. Irma. Jose. Katia. Lee. Maria. Nate. Now Ophelia, which could be headed toward Ireland in several days.

The last time 10 consecutive Atlantic storms became hurricanes was in 1893 — and because tracking technology was far more primitive then, meteorologists say, it is possible some weak tropical storms or tropical depressions went undetected within that streak. There also were 10-hurricane streaks in 1878 and 1886, according to Bob Henson, a meteorologist for Weather Underground. But since modern records began in 1851, there has never been an 11-hurricane stretch.

In the two months since Hurricane Franklin formed on Aug. 7, Mr. Henson said, there has been “maybe a week total without a named storm roaming the Atlantic somewhere.” Two of the 10 hurricanes in that period, Irma and Maria, reached the highest level, Category 5. Two others, Harvey and Jose, reached Category 4. Within a month from midAugust to mid-September, sixhurricanes developed.

The number of named storms so far — 10 hurricanes and five tropical storms, for a total of 15 — already has made the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season one of the busiest on record, and there still is more than a month and a half to go.

But what really stands out is the intensity and duration of the storms, reflected in a measure known as accumulated cyclone energy. By that index, 2017 ranks eighth since modern hurricane records began in 1851, and its position likely is to rise before the season is over. (The 1893 season, which produced the last 10-hurricane streak, ranks fourth.)

The link between climate change and hurricanes is not as simple as the link between climate change and other extreme weather events, like heat waves and droughts, scientists say — in part because, compared with those other events, the sample size of hurricanes is small. But climate change is a factor.

Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech University, told The New York Times in August that climate change might not increase the number of hurricanes, but that warmer ocean temperatures could “have a role in intensifying a storm that already exists.”

“We care about a changing climate because it exacerbates the natural risks and hazards that we already face,” Ms. Hayhoe said.