You’d have to go back decades to find another year like the current hurricane season.
To-date, no hurricanes have formed in the Atlantic basin – a phenomenon not seen in 112 years.
Storm activity in the Pacific due to El Niño as seen from satellite (NOAA)
That’s thanks to a strong El Niño effect which is effectively suppressing the formation of major storms in the Atlantic.
There have been six named storms so far this season – none of which have achieved hurricane status.
That compares to seven this time last year – two of which developed into hurricanes.
Environment Canada meteorologist David Neil says while it’s been more than a century since the Atlantic basin has seen such a quiet hurricane season, the information may not be entirely accurate.
He says satellite technology developed in the 1960s so any data collected prior to that needs to be taken “with a grain of salt” as storms may have formed in the mid-Atlantic that were not detected by human observation.
