Analog Years:
1958, 1973, 1988, 1995, 1998, 2007, and 2010, The closest
match to this year, seems to be 1958 and 1998.
1983 was a transition year, but I didn't use it, because of
the eruption of the El Chichon Volcano that year. 1982 was a Super El Nino that transitioned
into a La Nina in the Summer of 1983. The 1983 hurricane season saw only four
tropical cyclones. Because the Volcano disrupted the 1983 pattern, I threw
it out.
Teleconnections:
First of all this is a El Nino to La Nina transition year.
Transition years normally see more in the way of an active hurricane season.
The Atlantic Mutidecadal
Oscillation (AMO), has been generally positive for the last 10 years or
so. The AMO is looking like it's in the process of doing a reversal. You can
see how warm the tropical Atlantic basin
and off the East Coast of the United States are. In fact the SST's in the Gulf of Mexico and
Western Atlantic are warmer than most of analog years.
The North Atlantic
Oscillation (NAO) was positive for a lot of last winter, but now the NAO is more
negative. In the spring this is an indication that the Azores High Pressure
will be suppressed. This should allow for weaker easterlies; which in turn
would allow for less Saharan Air Layer (SAL) dust in the tropical cyclone
development zone. Instead there would be more moisture available for tropical
development. With the Azores high pressure looking to be somewhat suppressed,
it should help us see higher Accumulated
Cyclone Energy (ACE), which would increased the odds for more and possibility
stronger tropical cyclones.
In spite of the fact that the 2015 Atlantic Hurricane Season
was an El Nino year with overall hostile conditions. We saw quite a few
tropical waves. These helped to keep enough moisture in the Atlantic Prime
Development Zone; that we saw tropical cyclones like Fred, Grace, and Ida.
If the high latitude
blocking continues, the Atlantic SSTs could get a lot warmer.
Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE):
Total ACE looks to be 110-145 for the 2016 Atlantic
Hurricane Season. Also at least half of the ACE points look to be in the Gulf
of Mexico and western Atlantic Basin.
The warm Atlantic and tides:
The Main Development Zone in the Atlantic heated up rapidly
in April, along with the Gulf Stream slowing down for two weeks. Tides along
the Southeast Coast have been running a half foot to a foot above average since
mid April. The same area has seen wind changes, caused by the an atmospheric
bridge formed because of the El Nino in the Pacific; This in turn has heated
the north Atlantic.
One reason for the quick warm up in the tropical Atlantic,
is due to areas of low pressure forming along the subtropical jet atmospheric
bridge; this has weaken the trade winds in the Atlantic.
An atmospheric bridge of strong winds is carrying heat and water vapor from the tropical Pacific to the tropical Atlantic. In the image above, you can see winds at the 250mb level, along with water vapor levels over the western hemisphere on 3 May, 2016. There is a large area of convection caused by warm air south of Mexico. All of this has injected heat and water vapor into the atmosphere.
The second reason is the fading El Nino intensified the rising motion of air over the
northeastern Pacific Which increased substance over the tropical Atlantic.
More uplift than normal (green) has been caused by warm El
Niño waters in the north eastern tropical Pacific. The tropical Atlantic south
of the equator has had more subsidence than normal (brown). There has been
above average uplift induced by El Niño.
This has shifted surface pressure patterns, caused a southwesterly wind anomaly
in the tropical north Atlantic.
Both the weaken trade
wind flow and increased substance, is the reason for the rapid warming last
month. This southerly flow caused cooling
along the equator in the Atlantic and warming north of the equator.
Many have been talking about the area of cold SSTs (cold
blob) south of Greenland. There felt that this would actually cool the tropical
Pacific. But because the 2015 El Nino lasted into the Spring of 2016, the
southerly flow allowed for very strong high pressure around Greenland, which
considerably warmed the SST in the area that was the cold blob. The CFSv2 has
seen the demise of the cold blob.
These same processes happened during the intense hurricane
seasons of 1998, 2005, and 2010.
This is all very important to understand, The Gulf Stream is
mostly wind driven. When the trades weaken the Gulf Stream slows down. All of
this leads to increased tides in the Caribbean, GOM, and along the East Coast
from Florida to New England.
Preliminary water levels from Fort Worth pier, Florida,
near where NOAA observes Gulf Stream flow. Note the jump in water levels to up
to 1 foot above normal occurred at the same time as the Gulf Stream slowed.
The Gulf Stream typically flows in the low to mid 30
Sverdrups. It slowed to 19.8 on April 18, 2016. The last time a day had so
little flow followed hurricane Sandy's disruption of the Florida current in
late 2012.
Back in 2005 we saw the Atlantic heat up like it is in
2016. One thing that is different is how
much warmer the SSTs off the East Coast are this year compared to 2005. Another
thing that is different is the tides along the East Coast are higher this year,
then they were at the same time back in 2005.
You may say, "OK so what!". The Atlantic cycle is
such, that ocean surface heights are at their highest in Fall, and the lowest
in the Spring. This means we can expect surface heights to increase for the
next six months......in other words.....the tides will keep getting higher into
fall of 2016.
Putting it all together:
The El Nino has weakened a great deal, and the change to La
Nina is very apparent.
During this La Nina event, vertical wind Shear is going to
be below average this hurricane season.
The last several years have seen more in the way of recurving
tropical cyclones. But with the SSTs in
the Atlantic showing a definite shift toward a negative AMO, being quite warm.
The African easterly jet, will be slower, giving time for systems to get their
act together as they work west. With over half of the ACE points in the GOM,
Caribbean, and western Atlantic, there will be increased risk for Gulf Coast
and East Coast land falling tropical systems.
Factoring all of this in, the 2016 Atlantic season will be
quite interesting. The conditions in
Atlantic are prime for much above average tropical cyclone activity this
year.
We've already seen one hurricane in 2016. Hurricane Alex
formed in the Atlantic January 13-17, 2016.
Based on what I've outlined, this is my call for the 2016
hurricane season.
13-18 named storms (This includes Alex)
7-10 hurricanes
3-5 major hurricanes
3-5 land falling tropical cyclones, at least one will be a
major hurricane.
Impacts:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Kerry
Emanuel, is one of the leading authorities on atmospheric convection and the
processes that intensify hurricanes. He has written books, papers, and made
presentations on the physics of hurricanes. Even though he sits on the other
side of global warming debate from my side.... I still have a lot of admiration
and regard for him. Professor Emanuel
has written on how water temperature and hurricane activity has a direct
correlation.
The SSTs in the tropical Atlantic MDZ is cooler than it was
in 2010, but about the same as they were in 2005. The strongest hurricanes need warm water
under the surface. The heat content of
the Atlantic is quite high. Also the SST's off the East Coast are very
warm.
Even though the Gulf Stream has returned to normal near
Florida, tides along the East Coast remain high. As the Pacific El Nino fades, and the
tropical Atlantic warms weakening the trades. I expect to see more occurrences
of the Gulf Stream slowing.
The
2016 Atlantic Basin Hurricane Season has me worried. The combination of warm
SST in the GOM, Caribbean, off the East Coast, as well as in the MDZ in the
Atlantic...speaks of the possibility of intense hurricanes (like the hurricanes
of 1954). With the high water in the
Atlantic; I feel the risk of particularly destructive storms, making landfall
on the East Coast or Gulf Coast is high.
Everyone who lives on the East Coast and Gulf Coast, should review their
hurricane plans, have their hurricane emergency kits ready, and pay attention
to what the National Hurricane Center has to say.
That's it, thank you for taking the time to read. I would love to hear from you, either on here or on my Facebook pages.
