Hurricane season 2024: Is the Northeast in for a more active season with more storms?

PHILADELPHIA - Could the hurricane season be a more active one in 2024, especially for the eastern United States?

Forecasters believe this could be the case and have taken steps to ready for the possibility.

Scientists at Climate.gov have issued a La Niña Watch as there is consensus the El Niño pattern we are currently in may ease faster than originally anticipated.

We are in an El Niño pattern and some forecasters thought it was strong enough to last into the summer. But, sea surface temperatures, off the coast of Peru, seem to be trending colder and not warmer and it has caught the attention of scientists, who believe that trend will last, easing the El Niño pattern sooner than expected and bringing on La Niña.

A La Niña scenario for hurricane season produces less sheer for tropical systems, which means more storms could impact the mainland U.S., and certainly the possibility of a more active hurricane season for the northeast is real, should the La Niña setup take hold.

Scientists are paying attention, hence the watch issued and forecasters will take note as spring takes hold whether the Equatorial Pacific Cooling is a definite trend, leading to La Niña.