Scientists Call This Year's Quiet Atlantic Hurricane Season Unprecedented

Meteorologists are describing this year's Atlantic hurricane season as unprecedented, after months of near-total quiet in a basin that in recent years has produced some of the most destructive storms on record, according to Scientific American.

The primary driver behind the lull, researchers say, is El Nino, a recurring climate pattern that warms the eastern Pacific Ocean and, in turn, increases wind shear across the Atlantic. That shear tears apart the organized structure that tropical storms need to intensify, making it far harder for disturbances to develop into hurricanes.

While El Nino years have historically correlated with quieter Atlantic hurricane seasons, forecasters say the extent of the suppression this year has surprised even specialists who anticipated a below-average season. Early-year outlooks from government and academic forecasting groups had called for a less active season than the previous few years, but not to this degree.

The quiet stretch comes despite the Atlantic Ocean carrying above-average sea surface temperatures, a factor that typically favors more storm activity by providing additional energy for developing systems. The tension between record ocean heat and strong wind shear illustrates how multiple, sometimes competing, climate factors shape any given hurricane season.

Forecasters caution that the season is not yet over, and that conditions capable of producing late-season storms remain possible into November. Emergency management officials in hurricane-prone states have continued to urge residents not to let the quiet start affect their preparedness for the remainder of the season.