A chart of Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) measurements shows the relative strength of hurricane seasons over the past few decades.
The Atlantic Ocean showed no sign of any hurricane or tropical storm development as of Thursday (Oct. 2).
Though Hurricane Edouard was thousands of miles away, the major hurricane generated surf for Ocean City in mid-September.
With two months to go in the six-month hurricane season, 2014 remains relatively quiet. Through September, the Atlantic had seen five named storms — four of them hurricanes but none coming anywhere near Ocean City or the New Jersey coastline.
An average hurricane season (since 1981) produces 12 named storms (sustained winds of at least 39 mph), with six hurricanes (winds of 74 mph) and three major storms (winds of 111 mph), according to NOAA National Hurricane Center statistics.
Hurricane season extends through Nov. 30, and Superstorm Sandy — which brought record flooding and widespread damage to the region on Oct. 29, 2012 — showed that powerful storms can strike late in the season.
The Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) in 2014 is the 12th lowest (to date) in the last 64 years, according to Accuweather. ACE measures wind energy over the life a storm, and an ACE seasonal measurement calculates the sum of each storm.
The first three months of the hurricane season (June, July and August) made good on a forecast by the NOAA Climate Prediction Center for a “below normal” hurricane season with 7 to 12 named storms, 3 to 6 reaching hurricane status (sustained winds of at least 74 mph), and zero to 2 becoming major hurricanes (winds of at least 111 mph).
In September, Tropical Storm Dolly had a short life before making landfall in Mexico. Edouard reached major hurricane status later in September but traveled on a track across the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
An Army Corps of Engineers
beach replenishment project for the south end of Ocean City is scheduled to start in late November.
