For millions of North Americans, the late summer and early autumn means one thing and one thing only: prime surfing weather has arrived, coinciding with the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season.

From the palm-treed communities along the Bay of Campeche and the Gulf of Mexico to New Englanders along the Gulf of Maine, ferocious storms can impact almost anywhere across a vast stretch of tropical, subtropical, and mid-latitude coastline. Tropical storms can develop close to home. Or they can form off the coast of Africa as they lumber their way toward local waters, gathering intensity as they make their aqueous trek.