Earlier this week, Tropical Storm Betha, the second named storm of the 2026 North Atlantic hurricane season formed over the northeastern Gulf, 110 miles south of Panama City Florida. Bertha initially moved north, bringing tropical storm conditions to portions of the Florida Panhandle, before tracking west along the northern Gulf coast. Bertha made landfall as a 45mph tropical storm in St Bernard Parish, Louisiana, on Wednesday, 22 July, before tracking closely along the Louisiana coast degenerating into a low-pressure trough over Texas late on Thursday, 23 July.

Tropical Storm Bertha: Track History

Source: https://www.polarwx.com/tropical/?storm=al022026. As at 24 July 2026

As a relatively weak tropical storm, Bertha was never expected to become a significant insurance event. Tropical storms are often associated with heavy rainfall and the potential for significant flooding, strong northerly wind shear caused Bertha to become a highly asymmetrical storm, with the heaviest rainfall and strongest winds concentrated south of the storm, away from the Gulf coast.

Over the coming weeks, strong wind shear across the western Caribbean and Central Tropical Atlantic, together with extensive Saharan dust over the Atlantic closer to Africa is expected to suppress any potential development in the main hurricane development regions into early August. While some potential for storm development remains further north along the US East Coast, the likelihood currently appears low.

Final updates to the public seasonal forecasts are expected in early August, ahead of the climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season in late August and early September. With El Niño continuing to strengthen across the Tropical Pacific, we do not expect any material changes to these forecasts, and the outlook for below-average activity during the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season remains intact. 

As always, Twelve Securis continues to closely monitor any catastrophe events and will issue specific updates on any relevant new major events which occur.