Slow Atlantic hurricane season comes to a close

WASHINGTON — The 2013 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially ended on Saturday, November 30, had the fewest number of hurricanes since 1982, thanks in large part to persistent, unfavorable atmospheric conditions, according to NOAA.

2013 is expected to rank as the sixth least-active Atlantic hurricane season since 1950, in terms of the collective strength and duration of named storms and hurricanes, the article stated.

"A combination of conditions acted to offset several climate patterns that historically have produced active hurricane seasons," said Gerry Bell, Ph.D., lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service.

"As a result, we did not see the large numbers of hurricanes that typically accompany these climate patterns," Bell added.

According to the article, 13 named storms formed in the Atlantic basin this year, with two, Ingrid and Humberto, becoming hurricanes, but neither became major hurricanes.

The 2013 hurricane season was only the third below-normal season in the last 19 years, since 1995, when the current high-activity era for Atlantic hurricanes began, the article noted.

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