The Atlantic season has been lack luster so far.

Tropical Storm Edward made landfall near Johnson Bayou, Louisiana at around 2:20 pm, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph and a central pressure of 996mb.  The Bayou is on a barrier island and is about 28 miles southeast of Port Arthur, Texas.  When I lived in Texas, I was there many times to go through the Bird and Butterfly Sanctuary. The bayou is very beautiful. Edward will weaken quickly, bringing heavy rain and flood concerns.

 So far, the season has seen 5 named storms, 0 hurricanes, and 0 major hurricanes.

Tropical Storm Arthur made a landfall near Galveston, Texas and brought significant rain to parts of the Gulf coast and Southeastern United States in mid-June. Tropical Storm Bertha in July had two Gulf Coast landfalls, the first was St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana and the second was near the Louisiana and Texas border. Tropical Storm Cristobal formed in the middle of this month and because of hostile conditions only lasted 24 hours. Dolly was the season's fourth named storm, Dolly remained a tropical storm for only a few hours, before wind shear, dust and dry air tore her apart.

The lack of a lot of Atlantic tropical activity is not surprising if you have followed my blog post over the last few months, you already knew it would be. Stronger El Ninos typically results in hostile wind shear (changes in wind speed and direction), in the Atlantic Basin. This increase in wind shear can shred storms before they even develop, or as we’ve seen this season weaken storms that do form. Saharan dust has been another factor suppressing activity. Saharan Air Layer is a mass of very dry, dusty air that forms over the Sahara Desert during the late spring, summer and early fall, resulting in unfavorable conditions for tropical development.

The number of named storms isn’t the only metric to look at. Accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) is another way to measure how active the season has been. ACE, is used to not just count storms, but also how long each storm lasts and how strong each becomes. Adding the ACE of each storm gives us one measure of how active a season is.

In terms of ACE, it's been the slowest-starting Atlantic hurricane season since 1998, as of this writing Atlantic ACE stands at 4.1. The average ACE unit measurement in the North Atlantic for September 1st is about 36 to 40 units. So, we can see the ACE is well below average.

 We have to remember; a quieter hurricane season doesn't necessarily mean to drop your guard this season. It only takes one destructive landfall, or even a slow-moving, flood-producing weaker tropical storm to make a season memorable.

 Hurricane Andrew provides the classic warning. The 1992 Atlantic season produced only seven named storms, but Andrew struck South Florida as a Category 5 hurricane and became one of the country’s most defining natural disasters in history.

Hurricane Bob was the first hurricane of the 1991 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Bob reached peak winds of 115mph to the east of Virginia, before weakening and slamming into Block Island, Rhode Island. Then about 40 minutes later, he made a 2^nd landfall at Newport Rhode Island, with winds of 100mph, making it a Category 2 hurricane. Bob still ranks as the most powerful landfalling hurricane from the last five strong or very strong "super" El Nino seasons of 1972, 1982, 1991, 1997, and 2015. No hurricane has made landfall in New England since Bob.

Both of these show a season that seems subdued can become dangerous. It only takes one storm taking the right track, or wrong track, depending on how you look at it, to make it an active and memorable season.