Atlantic Tropical Activity Stays Quiet During the Peak of this Season

September is usually the busiest month for Tropical Storms and Hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. However, the basin has been void of organized tropical activity since Tropical Storm Edouard made landfall near the Texas/Louisiana border well over a week ago.

This is normally the most active stretch of the hurricane season due to warm ocean waters, less Saharan dust and a lack of wind shear. These factors often cause tropical waves to organize into a warm-core cyclone, which becomes a named Storm when winds are estimated to be at least 39 mph.

However, the intensification of El Niño is a likely culprit for the unusually quiet season so far. El Niño is the warming of the eastern equatorial Pacific waters above normal. This disrupts normal trade winds, which then effects wind flow in other parts of the world. Typically, this causes more wind shear over the Atlantic Ocean. Wind shear is wind of varying speeds and directions with height. This can tear apart or hold off the organization of a Tropical Storm or Hurricane.

So far this season, only 5 named Storms have formed. None of them have even strengthened to hurricane status. Meanwhile, in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, Tropical Activity has been nearly constant since much earlier in the summer. That is because wind shear is typically reduced in this region due to the warmer waters and weaker trade winds to the south. There have been nearly triple the amount of named systems here compared to the Atlantic basin. Two of these hurricanes even came close enough to Hawaii to cause inclement weather and damage. Most notably, Hurricane Lowell passed just west of the island chain causing widespread flooding and damage around the island of Kauai in the past week.

The second half of the Atlantic Hurricane Season still awaits us. Watch the video to see NOAA's prediction for the season at hand.

For a look at Green Country's latest forecast, click here.

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