Across the Atlantic Ocean the season runs from June to November, with El Niño effects and strong hurricanes already having become visible this year
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June to November and is the second most active period after the winter months of November to April.
Over the years the average number of major hurricanes in the region is 12, and the number of hurricanes that make landfall in the United States has fluctuated wildly, with an average total of 16.5 landfalls per season in the past 50 years. A landfall is a hurricane category 3 or higher and reaches land over 10,000 ft (3,048 m) with winds of 74-95 mph (119-153 kph).
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According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, very little information is available about ocean warmth from just one cycle – until now. Researchers found that the temperature variations that the long-term ocean-atmosphere coupling normally produces during warm times of the year do not currently predict any increase in hurricane activity, despite the fact that so many conditions are working in their favour.
The team’s findings were presented at the meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco on Tuesday and will also be published in the American Journal of Physical Chemistry.
Maintaining a public pressure to foster greater research into climate change as a risk factor for climate change-induced extreme weather events, is a top priority for the government.