There’s been a lot of excellent analysis of the mysterious storm-free first half of this year’s hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean and, more generally, tropical weather trends in the context of human-driven global warming. So rather than add to it, I’ll direct you to some highlights. This is how networked knowledge works.
[Updated, Sept. 11, 8:20 a.m.] First, the news. Brian McNoldy, who studies tropical storms at the University of Miami and now is part of the excellent Washington Post Capital Weather Gang blog, has reported that Hurricane Humberto has finally formed, coming within hours of matching the record set in 2002 for the latest date of first hurricane genesis in the Atlantic. As he notes, Humberto is not expected to persist very long.
The blogging meteorologist Jeff Masters has an excellent piece posted on the rarity of a hurricane-free first half to an Atlantic tropical storm season, with lots more on Humberto (which is nowhere near any land at the moment).
And, of course, the National Hurricane Center remains an essential guide if you live in a region at risk. I recommend its @NHC_Atlantic Twitter feed.
On the climate change context, Chris Mooney — drawing on skills honed since he wrote “Storm World” — filed an excellent overview at Mother Jones as part of the Climate Desk effort (see more of his coverage of hurricanes and climate change here). He writes about factors that might account for this season’s unpredicted calm, the latest (conflicting) studies on global warming and storminess and reminds readers that rising seas make any storm surge worse. Read the whole thing.
Finally, Bryan Walsh at Time posted “A Silent Hurricane Season Adds Fuel to a Debate Over Global Warming,” which echoes Mooney’s piece.
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