The Eastern Pacific Is Having Its Most Powerful Hurricane Season on Record

The Eastern Pacific is having a banner year at the hands of a powerful El Niño. Just as the climate phase has suppressed tropical weather activity in the Atlantic, the Eastern Pacific continues to pop off. Here is a look at the record-breaking season in the Pacific, and why this part of the world's oceans continues to be a hotbed of activity.

Records Continue to Fall Across the Eastern Pacific

There has been no rest for the weary across the Eastern Pacific. Records continue to fall as the impacts of a strengthening El Niño support a flurry of tropical storms and hurricanes. The Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 through November 30.

The basin has already produced 24 named storms with nearly a month left in the season. Of those two dozen storms, 13 of them went on to become hurricanes. According to data from Colorado State University (CSU), the Eastern Pacific has had the most Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) of any season on record dating back to 1950.

Hurricane experts routinely look at the ACE metric to determine the overall power of a hurricane season. This metric factors in the top sustained wind of every tropical event throughout the course of its lifespan, spitting out a number that considers both the number of storms and their overall power. In short, ACE provides an overall measure of the strength of the season.