ATLANTIC HURRICANES 2010 An active season

摘要

The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season featured 19 tropical storms, of which 12 became hurricanes (Figure 1 and Table 1). These numbers make 2010 the second most active season since relatively reliable records began in the late 1960s. Five of the hurricanes became major hurricanes, category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. There were two additional tropical depressions. The accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) index was 190 percent of the long-term median. The active season likely resulted from very warm sea surface temperatures and low vertical wind shear in the tropical Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea between West Africa and Central America, combined with the change in Pacific Ocean conditions from El Nino in 2009 to La Nina in 2010.