Record Quiet: Still No Atlantic Hurricanes This Season

For the first time in 112 years, the Atlantic Ocean has made it past the midway point of hurricane season without seeing a single hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center has tracked six named storms so far in the Atlantic Basin, which includes the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of America, but none of them evolved beyond a tropical storm.

As of Sept. 22, Tropical Storm Fay is the Atlantic’s only active named storm, last tagged 645 miles southwest of the Azores, but the National Hurricane Center announced it was weakening into a tropical depression, which keeps the hurricane-less streak going.

This is the first time the Atlantic hurricane season has been this quiet since 1914, according to meteorologists—one of two years to pass without a single hurricane since records began in 1851. The other year was 1907. It is also the quietest start of a season since the era of weather satellites began in 1966.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) updated its outlook for the season on Aug. 6, predicting a 75 percent chance of below-normal activity that would feature a total of seven to 13 named storms, two to six of which would evolve into hurricanes and a maximum of two becoming major hurricanes (Category 3 to Category 5).

Credit for the anticipated quiet season was given to the global phenomenon El Niño, which has also been unusually active from its corner of the eastern Pacific. NOAA explained that El Niño increases the wind shear over the Atlantic that makes the environment far less conducive to hurricane development, and this year it has been incredibly active.

While the Atlantic has been quiet, the Pacific has had a very active hurricane season. The National Hurricane Center has recorded 17 named storms so far in the Eastern Pacific, with four of them advancing west into the Central Pacific. Of this total, six have earned hurricane status, with three reaching major hurricane status.

As of Sept. 22, Hurricane Polo is the latest Category 5 hurricane to develop in the Eastern Pacific, sitting stationary offshore 215 miles south of Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and sustaining winds of 165 miles per hour. Tropical storm watches and warnings have been issued for segments of the Mexican coast.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Odalys has also formed in the Eastern Pacific, churning 1,455 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. No watches or warnings have been issued for this storm yet.