ENSO and North Atlantic Hurricanes

Number of Atlantic Hurricanes per Hurricane Season

Figure 3 shows the number of hurricanes in the August to October months for the different ENSO phases. In most El Niño (La Niña) years, there are fewer (more) hurricanes than average, with some exceptions (such as 1951, 1963, 1969, 1970 and 1973), which could be related to decadal variability on the Atlantic hurricane activity or to the overestimation of hurricane windspeed in the years 1940 to 1960. The relation between ENSO and hurricanes is stronger in the last 25 years.

Figure 3. Number of Atlantic hurricanes August to October, 1950-2001.