2009 A VERY QUIET HURRICANE SEASON

Written by: Brian Neudorff

We are in the final days of the 2009 Atlantic Hurricane season, and it has been a very quiet one. In fact, if we don't get another named tropical system in the next 28 days then 2009 will have the lowest tropical activity since 1997.

1997 saw four tropical tropical storms and three hurricanes; 2009 has had two hurricanes and six tropical storms. It appears very likely that we are done for the season and won't see another system. For November, the average number of storms that form during the month is less than one. There is also considerable amount of wind shear in the Atlantic Basin that prevents activity from developing, which is common for an El Nino pattern we're currently seeing.

1997 also featured an El Nino pattern which explains the similarities in the two years. If another storm were to form before the end of the season on November 30th, 2009 would tie 2006 as the season with the lowest storm totals this century.