El Niño Returns to Pacific, May Limit Atlantic Storms

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 9, 2009 4:33 PM CDT

(Newser) – An El Niño has developed in the Pacific, a boon to Americans living near the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coast who can expect fewer hurricanes as a result, the Palm Beach Post reports. The NOAA reported the conditions in June, and they could keep up through winter. “If it persists, we're in for a pretty quiet season,” says a Miami forecaster. But a newly identified phenomenon could spoil the optimism.

Georgia Tech scientists recently reported a system called El Niño Modoki, in which warming occurs further west in the Pacific and actually results in more hurricanes for Easterners. There’s “about a 50 percent chance that we could have one of the Modoki years emerging by late summer,” a forecaster said. The last such year was 2004, which produced 15 named storms.

This NOAA satellite image taken in 2008 shows a swirl of clouds off the coast of Central America in the Eastern Pacific Ocean associated with Tropical Storm Alma. (AP Photo)

This satellite image annotated and provided by NOAA shows Tropical Storm Andres in the Pacific Ocean moving northwest towards Mexico. (AP Photo)

Debris from Hurricane Paloma block a road in Santa Cruz del Sur, Cuba, last year. (AP Photo)

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Tropical Storms Nate, Maria Form

Nate expected to hit Mexico, while Maria churns in Caribbean

Hurricane Katia Weakens to Category 1

Forecasters say the storm will miss US coast

Katia Swells to Category 2

Storm churning northwest in the Atlantic

Tropical Storm Lee Plows Into La.

Flash flooding expected from drenching storm

Katia Strengthens Into Hurricane

But no prediction of where she'll make landfall

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El Niño Returns to Pacific, May Limit Atlantic Storms

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

severe weather • Atlantic Ocean • Pacific Ocean • El Nino • tropical storms • Georgia Tech • hurricane • forecaster

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Tropical Storms Nate, Maria Form

Nate expected to hit Mexico, while Maria churns in Caribbean

Hurricane Katia Weakens to Category 1

Forecasters say the storm will miss US coast

Katia Swells to Category 2

Storm churning northwest in the Atlantic

Tropical Storm Lee Plows Into La.

Flash flooding expected from drenching storm

Katia Strengthens Into Hurricane

But no prediction of where she'll make landfall

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Newser By Users

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