El Nino, a weather phenomenon based in the Pacific, could result in a quieter than usual 2026 hurricane season in the Atlantic.

The National Hurricane Center in the United States says no tropical cyclone activity is expected in the Atlantic basin during the next seven days.

Hurricane season begins June 1st, and typically starts to ramp up in August and September – usually peaking around September 10th.

So far this year, there have only been two named storms in the Atlantic, both of which were relatively weak and fizzled out.

There were three named storms in the Atlantic over the same period last year.

2025 was also a relatively quiet year in terms of tropical storm activity, with a total of 13 storms last season, including five hurricanes – four of which were major storms.

Environment Canada meteorologist Ian Hubbard says the El Nino effect means that there could be fewer named storms this hurricane season.

“What El Nino does, is it actually helps reduce the number of storms that form in the Atlantic basin, as it causes too much wind and it acts to inhibit those storms (from) starting to form. It shears the top of them right off, so it doesn’t allow as many to form, and that’s one of the factors that’s gone into the outlook for the season, which looks like it’s going to be a below-normal season overall.”