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El Niño Wind Shear Suppresses 2026 Atlantic Hurricane Activity to Record Lows
Just the facts
Weather Prediction Center meteorologist Nick Novella stated that 2026 marks the longest an Atlantic hurricane season has gone without a storm reaching sustained winds of 64 miles per hour. Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University noted that overall storm activity in the Atlantic basin measured seven percent of historical averages for mid-September. Scientists attributed the suppressed hurricane formation to high wind shear exceeding 45 miles per hour above normal, dry air, and high atmospheric pressure caused by an El Niño climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean. In contrast, the eastern and central Pacific basins recorded elevated tropical storm activity, including 16 named storms in the eastern Pacific that produced impacts in Hawaii.
Why this is news
On September 12, 2026, meteorologists from the Weather Prediction Center reported that no hurricanes had formed in the Atlantic Ocean, setting a satellite-era record for the slowest start to a hurricane season.
Sources
This summary is compiled strictly from the original reporting below.