A weaker hurricane season this year?
This view is from the space shuttle of a band of clouds showing the path of a jet stream. Climate scientists say that jet streams high above Earth's surface link ocean surface temperatures in the Pacific with hurricane conditions in the Atlantic. Click here to expand. More images below.
DB: This is Earth & Sky. Climate researchers with NASA say this year’s Atlantic hurricane season might be less severe than it could have been, due to the absence of a climate pattern called La Nina.
JB: Early in 2006, cool waters in the Pacific along the equator seemed to be signalling the return of La Nina conditions. These conditions make it easier for hurricanes to form in the Atlantic. Now these conditions look less likely. Here?s climate researcher Bill Patzert of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Bill Patzert: Now this spring, we had what we call La Nina Light, cool conditions in the equatorial Pacific. But as we’ve moved out of spring now towards summer, that situation has changed, and the La Nina has gone to a neutral condition, it’s a condition that I’m fond of calling, “La Nada.”
DB: In the 2005 hurricane season, there were a record 15 hurricanes. Seven were major hurricanes. A slightly warmer Pacific this year could weaken Atlantic 2006 hurricanes in contrast to last year. But Patzert said, the verdict isn?t in yet.
Bill Patzert: The good news is that the big hurricanes don’t come until late August and September. So we’ve got a number of months to see what develops. But the fact that La Nina is fading definitely gives us a little bit of good news here for the coming hurricane season.
JB: More at earthsky.org. With thanks to NASA, we?re Block and Byrd for Earth & Sky.
Visit NASA?s Hurricane Resource Page
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a theme page on El Nino and La Nina
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center discusses the El Nino/Southern Oscillation
You can see the ocean’s surface topography, or contours, from space thanks to NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Our thanks to:
William Patzert
Research Scientist
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Pasadena, CA
Additional Teacher Resources
NOAA: La Nina Page
La Ni?a is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, as compared to El Ni?o, which is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific. This site provides in depth information of the La Nina and El Nino weather patterns and includes several links to more information.
The National Geographic Society: El Nino/La Nina: Natures Vicious Cycles
Over the years, the appearance of La Ni?a has been less predictable than that of El Ni?o, and fewer of its effects have been recorded. But both patterns are now far better understood than ever before. That is because the most recent El Ni?o will be the first to be remembered for more than just a litany of disasters.
H4. NASA: El Nino Making Sense of the Weather
NASA designed this page to give kids a straightforward explanation of El Ni?o and to provide weather-related activities.
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