While forecasts for this past hurricane season were largely accurate regarding the number of storms, shorter term weather patterns managed to steer these storms away from the U.S., according to a story that will appear in National Underwriter magazine.
The story, written by Peter Dailey, assistant vice president, director of atmospheric science at AIR Worldwide, notes that the jet stream's position over North America acted as a barrier that kept many storms over open water this past hurricane season.
In addition, Mr. Dailey writes that in 2010, the "Bermuda High"--a large semi-permanent center of high atmospheric pressure in the eastern Atlantic near the Azores (and roughly at the latitude of Bermuda)--was, at times, situated further east than usual, and was also occasionally weaker than usual.
Other storms simply formed too far east, so they began turning north and back east before hitting the U.S. East Coast.
The season itself was the second most active season on record in terms of number of storms. The year saw 19 named storms, 12 hurricanes and five major hurricanes--in line with most pre-hurricane season forecasts.
Mr. Dailey writes, "Climate conditions such as warm sea surface temperatures and the El Ni?o/La Ni?a-Southern Oscillation can significantly influence tropical cyclone formation and development. However, even under favorable conditions driven by a warm Atlantic, the number of hurricane landfalls can be average or even well below average."
For the full story, see the NU print edition to be published on Dec. 27.
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