As long as the Sun keeps shining on our wet Earth, the planet's weather systems will be pumped full of energy, producing the storms we marvel at. But the above photo, which is a composite of images captured September 8 by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite, shows something fascinating: Despite plenty of clouds, there were no major storms over the Pacific, Atlantic, or Indian Oceans.According to NASA's Earth Observatory, to whom credit is due for the photo, that's a rare occurrence during what's supposed to be the height of hurricane season. While there are certainly smaller storms around—the eastern Pacific and eastern Atlantic both appear to have some small storms breweing in the crop below—there are no hurricane, cyclones, monsoons, or even tropical storms to be seen.The 2013 hurricane season was predicted to be a particularly heavy one, but it got off to a surprisingly slow start.“The 2013 hurricane season was billed as a stud, but up through mid-September, it has been a dud,” said Bill Patzert, climatologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a release. “Stay vigilant, though. Hurricanes could be late and active. Remember hurricane Sandy in late October last year.”Most major storms this year have petered out at tropical storm level. Yesterday, Hurricane Ingrid touched down in Mexico, causing floods and reminding us all of hurricanes' destructive force. Currently, the National Hurricane Center's projections look clear, aside from Tropical Storm Humberto, which is currently making its way up the central Atlantic.After last year's incredibly active hurricane season, the reprieve so far this year is welcome, but the second half of the season is yet to come, and the folks at the Earth Observatory say that the calm so far is no indication that the season will finish quietly.
Advertisement