El Niño and record warm ocean temperatures: FSU climatologist offers insight on what they mean for hurricanes
Florida State UniversityRecord-breaking high temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean combined with El Niño spell uncertainty for the Atlantic hurricane season. El Niño, known to reduce hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin, developed early this summer. With the conflicting factors of El Nino in the Pacific leading to fewer hurricanes and warm Atlantic Ocean temperatures favoring hurricane development, seasonal forecasts are for near-normal activity with lower confidence than other years.