The 23rd Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology

P7A.11
ENSO-INFLUENCE ON HURRICANES IN THE ATLANTIC AND EASTERN PACIFIC

Todd Mitchell, Seattle, WA; and J. M. Wallace

Historical tropical cyclone records for the Atlantic (1886-1997) and eastern Pacific (1949-1997) are examined for the influence of ENSO. The statistics of storm number and storm days are presented for the warm and cold polarities of ENSO, as well for years of near normal conditions in the equatorial Pacific. ENSO warm years are characterized by significant increases in hurricane number and days in the eastern Pacific, decreases in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribean Sea, and near normal number in the Atlantic basin. Stratification of the results by storm intensity shows that this relationship is due to the most intense hurricanes, a result that is consistent with the work of Gray and collaborators for the Atlantic. Years of cold ENSO episodes or near-normal conditions in the equatorial Pacific are found to be similar to each other

The 23rd Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology