North Atlantic basin documented 19 named storms, continuing the consecutive third-most active season trends from the previous year, due to the 2010–12 La Niña event.

Conversely, the Eastern Pacific basin featured slightly more activity than the previous season, with 11 named storms.

The accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) index for the 2011 (seven basins combined), as calculated by Colorado State University was 573.8 units.

The strongest tropical cyclone of the year was Typhoon Songda, with a minimum central pressure of 920 hPa (mbar).

The costliest tropical cyclone of the year was Hurricane Irene, which caused $14.2 billion worth of damage.

[2] By the end of Summer, this neutral state continued to persist, although there were still remnants of the La Niña evident.

1The "strength" of a tropical cyclone is measured by the minimum barometric pressure, not wind speed.