The dates are the easy part. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30; the National Hurricane Center and NOAA state it plainly, and the NOAA’s 2026 season outlook uses those bookends exactly. The harder part is spreading the work across six months so that the first watch statement of the year does not find your garage in its usual state of archaeology. Here is the local calendar, month by month.
Winter and spring: the audit months
Nothing is named yet, which is exactly the point. Between January and April, do the work that does not care about the forecast: read this year’s insurance policy, verify the wind-mitigation report on file, and get the roof and drainage inspected while contractors are unhurried. Rehearse the flood map lookup for your address, and if your home’s opening protection changed in the last year — new shutters, new impact units — make sure the paper trail is tidy.
This is also the season to check your evacuation zone rather than guess it. Lee County maintains the official hurricane preparation guide with evacuation-zone tools and AlertLee sign-up, and every year the map surprises someone. Know your zone letter while the roads are calm.
May: the load-in month
May belongs to the hurricane-famous pre-season sprint, and the National Hurricane Center runs its preparedness resources at NHC’s ready page for exactly this reason. The checklist in this house’s language looks like: test the generator under load and stabilize its fuel; buy the water and shelf-stable food staples before store aisles empty; service the shutters so hardware is lubricated and every pane has its clips; check the first-aid kit and batteries; and photograph the house and its contents for the insurance file. If roof projects or window work are going to happen this year, May is the deadline month to get them scheduled or decide they wait until next season.
June and July: systems online
Season opens. Keep the generator fueled and exercise it monthly, run a full deploy drill of the shutters at least once — an afternoon on a Saturday, not the night before a watch — and trim the trees that lean toward anything. Roofers slow down once the rainy season arrives, so schedule any flashing or shingle calls promptly. Do a mid-season policy review if you have not already; August is a poor month to learn your deductible.
August and September: the vigil months
This is the peak of the season statistically, and Southwest Florida’s worst landfalls have clustered here. The routine turns maintenance-lite and readiness-heavy: fuel vehicles, keep phones charged, keep water levels topped up after every close call, and treat every tropical system that enters the Gulf as a planning exercise even when the cone is wide.
If a watch or warning does arrive, the pre-storm task list is the one you drilled: deploy shutters on the openings you planned; move outdoor furniture and porch items inside; turn refrigerators to their coldest setting; fill bathtubs for flushing; and set up the document bag — insurance, deeds, photographs — where it can leave with you. If the order comes to leave in an evacuation zone, the decision is already made, and the preparation you banked in May is why the leaving is calm.
October and November: the tail of the season
The threat curve bends down but does not reach zero, and late-season storms have a habit of taking unusual paths before the November 30 close. Keep supplies where they are and keep the alert app turned on through the end of the month. After the season, decommission the readiness state: drain and stabilize or run down the generator fuel, clean the shutters and record any hardware that bent, and archive the season’s photographs for next year’s policy review.
The payoff for following the calendar is boring: nothing gets rushed, nothing gets forgotten, and the storm’s only surprise is the weather itself. If openings are the part of the checklist you have not solved yet, the shutters-or-impact-glass comparison lays out the choices, and when the season closes you may find the snowbird opening-and-closing routine picks up nicely right where this one stops.