NASA Earth Observatory image by Kathryn Hansen, using VIIRS data from LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response
A number of factors may make the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season calm compared to last year.
- In 2018, we've seen three named storms form early in the Atlantic, including Hurricane Chris and Hurricane Beryl.
- But unlike last year, it's looking like this might be a relatively calm Atlantic hurricane season.
- That's because ocean temperatures are cool, an El Niño might form in the Pacific, and there's a lot of Saharan dust in the air.
Earlier in the year, there were some signs that we could be in for another intense Atlantic $4.
Initial projections pegged the $4 - though 2017's "$4 began with a similar forecast.
Yet early signs of activity aside, projections for the rest of the hurricane season are changing, with $4 a year that's average or even below average in terms of activity.
First, a named storm, $4, a few days before hurricane season even officially kicked off.
Hurricanes Beryl and Chris both formed by July 10, the fourth time there had been two hurricanes by that date in the satellite era (since 1966). Beryl threatened Caribbean islands still recovering from hurricanes like $4 and $4. Chris formed off the coast of the US, whipping up strong surf.
The $4 are now headed out to sea near Newfoundland, Canada, though the storm is still expected to $4 in the Northeast US on Thursday and Friday.
Chris had the lowest pressure - a measure of a storm's intensity - for an Atlantic hurricane this early in the season since 2010's Hurricane Alex, Colorado State University (CSU) meteorologist $4. As $4, this was the first time since 1906 that a storm as strong as Chris was so far north by this time of year.
Conditions around the globe, in the Atlantic, Caribbean, Pacifc, and in the winds from North Africa, all provide reason to think this year's hurricane season will be less stormy than last year's.
REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Much of the Caribbean is still picking up after the 2017 hurricane season.
What makes a hurricane season
An average hurricane season is based on the 30-year average from 1981 to 2010. By that definition, an average season includes 12 named storms and six hurricanes, with three of those being major hurricanes - storms that qualify as $4.
CSU's newest forecast projects four hurricanes and ten named storms, with one being a major hurricane. If you average the predictions from major research institutions, government agencies, and universities, the mean prediction is six hurricanes, which would make this an average Atlantic season.
Hurricanes in the Atlantic are formed by a confluence of global conditions, including ocean temperatures in both the Atlantic and the Pacific (which can affect winds), long-term ocean currents, and atmospheric winds.
Right now, the tropical and subtropical Atlantic are abnormally cool, which favors less storm activity since tropical cyclones derive energy from warm waters.
A weak El Niño is also looking like it may form in the Pacific, meaning waters there could be slightly warmer than normal. That can create wind shear in the Atlantic, which tears apart hurricanes before they form. Caribbean trade winds are also quite strong right now, which can indicate a quiet season, $4.
The final factor that's dampening storms right now comes from Africa. A lot of Saharan dust is being kicked up by winds and $4. This dust can suppress storms before they form or intensify.
Anyone who experienced the 2017 hurricane season in the Atlantic is hoping for a quiet season this year. But just one storm is all it takes to do damage to a populated area.