The 2011 hurricane season officially came to a close yesterday for both the Eastern Pacific and the Atlantic basins as Mike indicated above. Here's my final tropical summary with some help from NHC and Wikipedia:
The Atlantic basin finished with a total of 20 tropical depressions, 19 tropical storms (one was unnamed as NHC discovered it after the fact upon further analysis), 7 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes (Irene, Katia, and Ophelia). This season tied the third highest number of tropical storms in recorded history dating back to 1851. The 1887, 1995, and 2010 seasons also had 19 storms. Only the 1933 season (21 storms) and the infamous 2005 season (28 storms) had more. The first eight storms never reached hurricane strength, which is a new record for the most number of consecutive tropical storms to start a season. Irene ended that streak, and it was the deadliest (at least 55 confirmed as of today) and the costliest storm (over $10 billion in damage) out of the entire season. Once again, the United States was really fortunate as only two tropical storms (Don and Lee) and one hurricane (Irene) made landfall. It could have been much worse, especially since Irene weakened from Category 3 to Category 1 before paralleling the East Coast.
The Eastern Pacific basin finished with a total of 13 tropical depressions, 11 tropical storms, 10 hurricanes, and 6 major hurricanes (Adrian, Dora, Eugene, Hilary, Jova, and Kenneth). While the Atlantic couldn't generate a single hurricane at first, the Eastern Pacific couldn't stop producing them as the first five storms all became hurricanes. Three of those five hurricanes reached Category 4 intensity, which included Dora (strongest hurricane out of both basins with winds of 155 mph). Interestingly, this active streak stopped one week before Irene formed in the Atlantic on August 20, which possibly hints the moment when the current La Niña period ensued. From that point forward to October 5, just one named storm developed in the Eastern Pacific, while 10 named storms formed in the Atlantic. The Eastern Pacific finished with one last push as Hurricane Kenneth, the last storm of the season, became the strongest late-season storm to ever form in this basin with winds of 145 mph. Mexico suffered a few glancing blows and three landfalls from Tropical Depression 8-E, Hurricane Jova (costliest storm with over $200 million in damage), and Tropical Depression 12-E (deadliest storm with at least 80 confirmed as of today due to excessive flooding).
Hope everyone enjoyed tracking this season and found my summary interesting to read! I'll leave this main thread open until the end of 2011 if you want to ask any questions or discuss more.