Definition: Hurricane Climate

Hurricane climate is the study of hurricanes that includes the role climate factors play in modulating seasonal, annual, and decadal hurricane activity. Hurricane climatology is the statistics (e.g., mean number of hurricanes, maximum estimated intensity, etc.) of past hurricane activity over some reference time period. The role climate factors play in modulating hurricane activity are examined using empirical, statistical, or dynamical models. For hurricanes occurring over the North Atlantic, climate factors include El Niño, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the Atlantic sea-surface temperature (SST), and the stratospheric Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO). Hurricane climate also includes the role global warming might have on hurricane activity.