How has this hurricane season so far compared to preseason outlook?

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- With a little less than six weeks to go in the Atlantic hurricane season, how is it measuring up so far compared to the preseason outlook?

Houston Chronicle Meteorologist Justin Ballard joined ABC13 Chief Meteorologist Travis Herzog on Wednesday on ABC13 Weather Now to break down the numbers.

To date, there have been 15 named storms with 10 of those becoming hurricanes. Of those hurricanes, Beryl, Helene, Kirk, and Milton attained major hurricane status. By comparison, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) outlook issued in May called for a range of 17-25 tropical storms, 8-13 hurricanes, and 4-7 major hurricanes. The range of hurricanes and major hurricanes has already been verified, and there's still time left in the season to get into the range of 17-25 named storms from the preseason outlook.

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The biggest drawback to the preseason outlook is that it does not predict where the storms will go and make landfall. Unfortunately, five hurricanes have made landfall along the U.S. Gulf Coast this season: Beryl, Debbie, Francine, Helene, and Milton. Both Helene and Milton were major hurricanes when they made landfall in Florida.

It's an important reminder that what matters more than how many storms form is where they go, and like we experienced with Hurricane Beryl, it only takes one storm to make it a bad season for us.

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While historically, Texas is in the clear from hurricanes by this time of the year, the season continues through the end of November. We are seeing signs that another Caribbean hurricane could develop around Halloween or the first week of November. The next name on the list is Patty.

For weather updates, follow Travis Herzog on Facebook, X and Instagram.