subtropical storm andrea formed on may 20, making 2019 the fifth consecutive season in which storms formed before the official start of the hurricane season; this breaks the record of four consecutive years set in 1951-1954. barry became the first hurricane of the season in early july. hurricane dorian became a first major hurricane of the season in late august, and later became a category 5 hurricane on september 1, making 2019 the fourth consecutive season to feature at least one category 5 hurricane (matthew in 2016; irma and maria in 2017; michael in 2018). tropical storm imelda formed on september 17 and caused catastrophic flooding over southeast texas, making imelda one of the wettest tropical cyclones in u.s. history. hurricane lorenzo became a second category 5 hurricane of the season on september 29, making 2019 one of the atlantic hurricane seasons to feature more than one category 5 hurricane; and also, this made lorenzo the easternmost category 5 hurricane on record, surpassing hurricane hugo in 1989. the season ended with tropical storm sebastian on november 25.