Last year’s Atlantic hurricane season was a landmark one in several unnerving ways, with more named storms than average and the earliest Category Five hurricane ever recorded. It was also, as NPR’s Greg Allen reported, the deadliest hurricane season in years, leading to numerous deaths in the southeastern United States and elsewhere. In the wake of last year’s devastation, it begs the question: what can we expect from its counterpart this year?
The forecast might involve milder weather for this year’s hurricane season in the Atlantic. Writing at The Washington Post, Ben Noll has more information on why experts believe milder conditions may be in store for coastal areas — and why.
Noll points to several factors, including warming overall temperatures in subtropical regions, as being behind the relatively uneventful hurricane season thus far. He notes that there is less of a difference in temperatures between tropic and subtropic regions recently — a result of climate change — which, in turn, reduces the conditions necessary for storms to develop.
The possible development of an Atlantic Niña, representing cooler equatorial ocean temperatures, is also a factor in the calmer weather patterns thus far. That said, there’s still a long way to go before the hurricane season ends – and we might still see a number of major storms develop.
After the Hurricanes, Florida Faces Red Tides
Toxic algae is growing off the Florida coastlineThe Atlantic isn’t the only ocean with a hurricane season, and the Pacific is currently reckoning with storms of its own. Earlier this weekend, a tropical storm struck the Chinese province of Hainan, leading to evacuations in Guangdong. It’s the first typhoon of 2025 to strike China, the Associated Press reports.
More Like This
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
