Hurricane activity during the 2006 Atlantic hurricane was weaker than expected because of the rapid development of El Niño, according to scientists at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season produced near-normal activity with a total of nine named storms - including five hurricanes, two of which became major hurricanes of Category 3 strength or higher.

An average Atlantic hurricane season has 11 named storms, with six becoming hurricanes and two becoming major hurricanes.

Unlike the past three seasons, the stronger hurricanes stayed well out at sea in 2006, sparing the Americas and the Caribbean islands from major hurricane damage this season.

"The development of El Niño conditions by September helps explain why this Atlantic hurricane season was less active than predicted," said Gerry Bell, NOAA's lead forecaster on the Atlantic hurricane seasonal outlook team, in a press release. "El Niño developed quickly and the atmosphere responded rapidly, reducing hurricane activity during an otherwise active era that began in 1995."

El Niño refers to a periodic warming of the ocean waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, which influences pressure and wind patterns across the tropical Atlantic.

"El Niño, combined with the large-scale weather patterns over the southeastern U.S., produced sinking air in the middle and upper atmosphere, along with higher than anticipated wind shear (the change in winds through the atmosphere) over the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea," the NOAA said in a recent statement. "These conditions minimized thunderstorm activity, which inhibited tropical storm and hurricane formation."

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