Monday is the last day of the 2015 hurricane season – a season that saw only one storm in the Gulf of Mexico, the relatively short-lived Tropical Storm Bill that made landfall in Texas shortly after forming.
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This development is unique because it marks the first nine-year period since the 1850’s that a Category 3 storm has not struck USA shores, according to a NASA study released this year. You can view a list of the 2016 storm names on the National Hurricane Center’s website. The NHC also noted that a hurricane only forms in the month of November every 9 or 10 years, based on a 30-year climatology.
This year’s season was active but still quiet.
The 2015 Hurricane Season was mild when compared to previous seasons, thanks in part to a strong El Nino developing in the Pacific.
Below is the list of each named cyclone and its maximum wind speeds. Will a fading El Nino continue to affect the tropical Atlantic, or will it be busier? This was slightly higher than some forecasts but within the range predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center prior to the season. Those same conditions create more wind shear over the ocean, meaning storms that break through that sheer and reach land tend to be more intense. Locally, that included Hurricane Dennis; and before that Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
Klotzbach and Gray attribute the upturn in major hurricane activity since 1995 as well as the earlier increase in major hurricane activity from the late 1940s through the mid-1960s to natural multi-decadal variability in the strength of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) or Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation (THC).
No major hurricane landfalls in over 10 years. We dont typically see an active Pacific hurricane season and an active Atlantic one in the same season.
The Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from June 1st through November 30th each year.
Scientists blame El Nino for keeping meteorologists and alert services busy from May 15 in the East Pacific Ocean and from June 1 in the Atlantic and Central Pacific.
“Fortunate, blessed, and grateful” are some of the words used by emergency managers from across Northwest Florida, when asked to comment on the end of this year’s hurricane season.
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The storm gave Needham his first chance to test a phone application that LSU, nonprofits and other universities were trying out to map flooded areas using Global Positioning System. While 1983 featured the least amount of total tropical storms in the Atlantic, three of those storms developed into hurricanes.
