El Nino Credited in Hurricane Slump

The Atlantic hurricane season was a lot calmer than usual, and El Nino is the reason. Three hurricanes blew in from the Atlantic during a storm season that ended Sunday. The average is six. El Nino, the periodic warming of the eastern Pacific, gave rise to furious storms off the coast of Mexico such as Hurricane Pauline. That storm struck the southern Mexico coast in October, killing 230 people and leaving 300,000 homeless. But in the Atlantic, El Nino sent strong easterly winds into the upper atmosphere that helped dampen conditions for the forming and movement of hurricanes. The National Hurricane Center chased only seven named storms in the Atlantic while watching a hefty 17 in the eastern Pacific.