El Nino could bring record slow storm season

(AP) The Atlantic is quiet— record quiet — this hurricane season thanks to an enormous El Nino that crushes storms before they get going.

No Atlantic hurricane shave formed so far this year and none are likely to form for at least another week, even though this would normally be the peak of the season, according to the National Hurricane Centre.

Since the start of the Atlantic Hurricane Season on June 1 there have only been five relatively weakened brief tropical storms.

Nick Novella, a meteorologist at the government’s Weather Prediction Centre, says up to Saturday, this year has set a new record for the longest a season has begun without a storm that has reached winds of 64 miles per hour to qualify as a hurricane.

Overall hurricane activity using a measurement that factors in the number of storms, their strength and how long they last is also at a post-1950 record low, according to Colorado State University hurricane expert Phil Klotzbach. Experts say storm activity in the Atlantic is only 7 per cent of normal for this time of the year.

They, however, warn that people should not let down their guard, noting that one storm, even during an El Nino, could be catastrophic.

Several experts pointed to1992, which kicked off late but nastily with the devastating Hurricane Andrew.

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