El Niño and La Niña's influence on hurricane season

FORT MYERS, Fla. —

El Niño and La Niña significantly affect hurricane season by altering wind shear in the Atlantic Ocean, influencing the development and strength of tropical storms.

La Niña tends to lower wind shear in the Atlantic, which can help storms develop, while El Niño tends to increase wind shear, usually disrupting storms.

Despite this, strong storms can still form, as demonstrated by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which became a Category 5 hurricane during a strong El Niño year.

Conversely, during La Niña does not guarantee that each storm will be strong; favorable conditions like warm water and moisture are still necessary for a storm to intensify.

A season can be statistically active overall, but that doesn’t always mean it will feel that way where you live, and the opposite can also be true.

For example, 2020 was the most active hurricane season on record, but Florida had zero hurricane landfalls.

In the video above, Gulf Coast Chief Meteorologist Allyson Rae breaks it down with a simple analogy, comparing it to a figure skater working to land a jump.

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