{"id":38690,"date":"2014-09-25T11:07:47","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T16:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=38690"},"modified":"2014-09-25T11:07:47","modified_gmt":"2014-09-25T16:07:47","slug":"fewer-atlantic-hurricanes-bode-well-for-an-el-nino-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2014\/09\/25\/fewer-atlantic-hurricanes-bode-well-for-an-el-nino-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"Fewer Atlantic Hurricanes Bode Well For An El Ni\u00f1o Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"In<\/a>

Photo by NASA via Getty Images<\/p>

Hurricane Sandy, pictured, churns off the east coast on October 28, 2012 in the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p><\/div>\n

There\u2019s a good chance of an El Ni\u00f1o weather pattern forming by the end of the year. That could be good for easing or even ending the Texas drought. But it’s not a sure thing.<\/p>\n

For meteorologists\u00a0to know El Ni\u00f1o has definitely arrived, warmer surface water in the Pacific needs to engage with the atmosphere<\/a>. So far, that hasn’t happened.<\/p>\n

Forecasters,\u00a0however, are already seeing another sign of El Ni\u00f1o: fewer hurricanes than average in the\u00a0Atlantic.<\/p>\n

“I\u00a0think we\u2019ve only had five named storms so far [in the Atlantic], about 50 percent of normal,” says\u00a0Victor Murphy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “Whereas the Eastern Pacific Basin, I think they\u2019re on the “P” storm Polo. I think they\u2019re at about 150 percent of activity in the Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cO\u201d storm, \u201cOdile,\u201d from the Pacific, dropped a sizable amount of rain on parts of Texas just last week.<\/p>\n

Some states, like California, were hoping for a “strong” El Ni\u00f1o to dramatically change weather patterns and deliver them from drought. But even a “weaker” pattern could bring a wetter-than-average winter to Texas, says Murphy.<\/p>\n

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