Hurricane Climatology Data

A review of what data we have and its limitations

I’m often asked what kind of data hurricane climatologists work with. As I was writing up a kind of overview, I realized I needed to explain the basics as to why we use this data, where our data is less-than-ideal, and how science is advancing our records.

What global oceanic systems impact hurricane development?

Hurricanes are heat engines, drawing their power from both the warm ocean waters and the instability of the atmosphere.

There are three primary oceanic oscillations that have a major impact on hurricane development - El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO).

Each of these operates at different timescales and has different variables impacting its relative strength.

When you run analysis on hurricane frequency and intensity along with all three oscillations, patterns emerge that demonstrate the influence of each of these systems.

The average number of named tropical cyclones, hurricanes and major hurricanes in the North Atlantic basin during various ENSO, AMO and PDO phases and combinations, 1870-2024.

From the above chart, you can see that combination of events that produce the lowest average number of storms (ENSO+/AMO-/PDO-) has less than half the average activity as the combination with the most storms (ENSO-/AMO+/PDO-).