The 1969 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season since 1933 and is tied with 2019 as the fifth most active Atlantic hurricane season on record, and was also the final year of the most recent positive Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) era. The hurricane season officially began on June 1, and lasted until November 30. The season had the highest number of systems reach hurricane status – twelve – in a single season, until that record was surpassed in 2005. The season was above-average despite an El Niño, which typically suppresses activity in the Atlantic Ocean, while increasing tropical cyclone activity in the Pacific Ocean. Activity began with a series of five tropical depressions, the first of which developed on May 29. The third system in that series,