benny wrote:It just doesn't mean a whole lot. 2001 was also a warm year in the Gulf and there wasn't even a hurricane landfall in the GOM. That area doesn't really have any climate signals... it is next to impossible to predict because it isn't linked as closely as the E Coast is to tropical Atlantic SSTs. The GOM is always warm in the season.. whether it is 85 or 90 really doesn't matter (look at the westpac). It needs the right steering and at this point.. who knows. A cooling eastern part of the ENSO seems to help as well but that is a qualitative assessment.
But, in 2001 the rest of the Atlantic was below normal.
whether it is 85 or 90 really doesn't matter (look at the westpac).
Typhoon Tip, Forest, and a few other "Super" Typhoons sure liked the warm waters when they bombed. So did Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.