According to meteorologists, this year's severe hurricanes and storms off Canada's east coast are a result of the Atlantic Ocean's record-high water temperatures.
Bob Robichaud, a meteorologist at the Canadian Hurricane Center in Halifax, said reporters during a news conference on Thursday that the weather is conducive to a busy storm and hurricane season.
El Niño phenomenon
According to him, the El Nino phenomena—which produced above-average sea temperatures last year—is giving way to the El Nino phenomenon, which typically brings around more storms in the Atlantic.
Tropical water temperatures
"We anticipate a very active hurricane season this year because we are not only getting rid of the El Nino phenomenon but the tropical Atlantic's water temperatures have reached record highs right now."
Robichaud cited numbers that the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued on Thursday, which indicated that 17 to 25 distinct storms were expected, of which eight to thirteen would become hurricanes and four to seven would become significant hurricanes.
About 35 percent of storms that form in the Atlantic Basin Head often affect Canadian seas, he added, though the average can fluctuate greatly from year to year.
He clarified that it is still too early to predict the number of storms that may have an impact on towns in Atlantic Canada.
Official hurricane season
On June 1st, the official hurricane season officially begins and ends on November 30th.
The ocean off the east coast of Canada is currently a little colder than usual, according to Robichaud, but this "anomaly" should go by the time the hurricane season peaks in August.
In actuality, there were 20 named storms, seven hurricanes, and three major hurricanes last year, five of which entered Canadian waters with post-tropical storm Lee causing storm damage and power outages along the southern coasts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Forecasters had predicted 12 to 17 powerful storms, five to nine hurricanes, and one to four major hurricanes.
Hurricanes and tropical storms
While the frequency of hurricanes and tropical storms is not predicted to be affected by climate change, study scientist Nathan Gillett of Environment and Climate Change Canada stated that the conditions brought about by climate change would contribute to the strengthening of already powerful storms.
We anticipate that climate change will intensify the effects of hurricanes since "hurricane-related precipitation is also expected to become more intense and sea level rise will exacerbate the storm-related impact of storms," Gillette stated.
