No doubt you've heard talk that El Niño is going to limit tropical activity in the Atlantic this hurricane season. That's a possibility, though it's not a slam dunk. The El Niño hasn't developed yet, and its eventual strength is important to how it affects tropical-storm and hurricane formation. Years of research have taught us that the temperature of the Pacific Ocean water along the equator drives weather patterns around the world. The region that correlates best with El

Further tropical development is unlikely this hurricane season. A wintertime weather pattern has settled over the Gulf, the Caribbean, and the tropical Atlantic. Hostile upper-level winds and dry air blanket the tropical zone. A fluke tropical storm can theoretically develop at any time during the year, and there’s at least one in the record book in every month. But the odds are high that we'll get through November without any development. NOAA's Climate Prediction Cente