western hemisphere-bound hurricanes often have their early beginnings near the cape verde islands. these are referred to as cape verde-type hurricanes. these hurricanes can become very intense as they cross warm atlantic waters away from cape verde. the average hurricane season has about two cape verde-type hurricanes, which are usually the largest and most intense storms of the season because they often have plenty of warm open ocean over which to develop before encountering land. the five largest atlantic tropical cyclones on record have been cape verde-type hurricanes. most of the longest-lived tropical cyclones in the atlantic basin are cape verde hurricanes.