FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Frank Lepore News Releases 2002
NOAA Home Page NOAA Public Affairs The 2002 Atlantic hurricane
season that officially ends Nov. 30, produced only four
hurricanes due to a strengthening El Niño, said National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hurricane specialists.
However, twice the normal number of storm systems (eight)
affected the nation, bringing storm surge and severe weather and
rain to the nation, including Hurricane Lili, the first land-
falling hurricane to strike the United States since the 1999
Hurricane Season. NOAA is an agency of the Commerce Department.
“A strengthening El Niño suppressed the numbers of hurricanes
and weakened storms,” said retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Jack
Kelly, director of the NOAA National Weather Service. “Thanks to
El Niño’s influence, we experienced only four hurricanes--half
the number we’ve seen in typical seasons since 1995,” Kelly
added. Overall in 2002, there were 12 named storms, of which
four became hurricanes. Hurricanes