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El Niño and dusty air leave just three named storms

8/17/2026

35 5 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

U.S. forecasters say the Atlantic hurricane season has produced only three named storms since June.
They attribute the low activity to an intensifying El Niño and dry, dusty air from Africa.
Scientists report El Niño sea-surface temperatures are at least 1.5 °C above average, with anomalies up to 4 °C, and that it meets its definition by staying at least 0.5 °C above normal for several consecutive months.

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Story summary

U.S. forecasters say the Atlantic hurricane season has produced only three named storms since June.
They attribute the low activity to an intensifying El Niño and dry, dusty air from Africa.
Scientists report El Niño sea-surface temperatures are at least 1.5 °C above average, with anomalies up to 4 °C, and that it meets its definition by staying at least 0.5 °C above normal for several consecutive months.