With the advent of cooler weather and the holidays just around the corner, it may seem a little hard to believe that hurricane season extends into November. The Atlantic basin and eastern Pacific hurricane seasons officially run through November 30. Although occurring much less frequently, hurricanes can and do develop during the month of November.

WeatherBug Meteorologist Rachel Peterson shows you where in the world hurricanes and tropical cyclones form and how they affect the U.S. coast in these exclusive WeatherBug videos.

How Many Form

The tropical season in the North Atlantic basin -- which consists of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic north of the Equator -- is already starting to wind down.

In the last 60 years, National Hurricane Center data indicates that on average, one storm forms about every 2 years.

During the 2005 season, three tropical storms took shape in November with another forming in December. Tropical Storm Epsilon, the most intense of the systems, formed on November 29, 2005 in the open Atlantic and became a hurricane on December 2. In 2004, Tropical Storm Otto formed on Nov. 30, the last day of hurricane season, east of Bermuda. It too lasted until Dec. 2, when it was downgraded to a tropical depression.

In what was a very unusual hurricane season, 2005 even produced a named storm, Tropical Storm Zeta, on December 30. Zeta was the second latest-forming storm on record. The storm persisted until January 6, 2006, never threatening land.

Comparatively, the 2008 hurricane season produced only one hurricane, Paloma, a major hurricane that struck the Cayman Islands and eastern Cuba. No deaths were reported, but several thousand homes were destroyed on Cayman Brac and in eastern Cuba. Around $350 million in damage was reported.

Where They Form and Why

Most November tropical systems usually form in only one of two spots, the western Atlantic northeast of Cuba and in the southwestern Caribbean near the Central American coast.

Storms that form in November, whether they develop in the Caribbean or over the western Atlantic, usually track to the northeast toward the open waters of the western and central Atlantic. These storms can be troublesome for eastern Cuba, the Bahamas and Bermuda. On a rare occasion, storms that form near the Central America coast can track north into the Gulf of Mexico and turn to the northeast toward Florida.

Tropical systems have a better chance of developing and surviving in November in these locations because water temperatures, even in November, have not cooled off below the 80-degree threshold storms need to form and grow. Additionally, hurricane-killing shear often remains low or non-existent. In other areas of the tropics and over the Gulf of Mexico, wind shear becomes stronger in the autumn, often tearing apart any waves of thunderstorms that try to organize into a tropical system.

Famous November Hurricanes

At least seven major hurricanes with winds of 111 mph or greater have formed in the Atlantic basin since 1900. 2008`s Paloma was the most recent one to form.

The United States is not immune from direct hurricane hits in November. Record books show that four hurricanes have made U.S. landfall since 1900 during this last month of hurricane season. All four storms impacted Florida, with the most recent occurring in 1985. Hurricane Kate, a Category 2 storm roared ashore in northwestern Florida producing an estimated 300 million dollars in damage.

Be sure to check with WeatherBug for the latest on the 2009 hurricane season.

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