extend the season? can't see what good it would do. even though they have happened between june and november (and almost in may and december), hurricane landfalls here in the u.s. of significance are usually between august and october. for the rest of the basin it isn't much different, though the caribbean is threatened for a slightly longer period. there are those freak incidents of caribbean hurricane impacts in january (1955) and march (1908), but usually the out-of-season hurricanes occur out to sea and threaten no one. this has been the case in every one in the recent active period aside from odette in 2003.
having a season that laps years makes sense in the southern hemisphere, as tropical cyclones in the south indian and pacific oceans occur during their summer-fall season which runs from late in one year well into the next... december through april, more or less. as a matter of fact, tropcial cyclone seasons down there are called 2004-05, 2005-06, for that reason... the same way we do basketball (and i think hockey) seasons here in the U.S. there are so few storms between january and april that no real predictable pattern or linkage to the semi-permanent weather features associated with the hurricane season before or after can be made out. as any one of our seasons is centered from summer-fall, going by calendar year to identify them makes sense. the vernal equinox is in a big scant activity dead zone and doesn't have any real significance or mark any real transition when it comes to north atlantic tropical cyclones. neither does january 1 for that matter, but it is the first day of a new year that most people recognize in the western world.
HF 0412z06january