July and August were quiet months for hurricane season, especially August 13 through September 8, the quietest it has been since 1968, but now it may seem like the tropics might be waking up.

Federal forecasters are still predicting a highly active Atlantic hurricane season thanks to near-record sea surface temperatures and the possibility of La Nina.

Get ready for what nearly all the experts think will be one of the busiest Atlantic hurricane seasons on record thanks to unprecedented ocean heat and a brewing La Nina.

Forecasters say this year's hurricane season for waters around Hawaii will likely be “below normal” with one to four tropical cyclones across the central Pacific region.

After months of gradually warming sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, NOAA officially issued an El Nino advisory Thursday and stated that this one might be different than the others.

The world's oceans are suddenly considerably hotter than just a month or two ago and well above record levels.

It may be hard to believe, but we have already cleared the halfway mark of meteorological winter.

Experts say a natural La Nina weather pattern, unusually warm moist air juiced by climate change, and long-term shift in where tornadoes hit all are factors in Thursday's devastating tornado in Alabama.

Government science teams say that 2022 didn't quite set a record for heat, but it was in the top five or six warmest on record depending on who's doing the measuring.

New Zealand had its hottest year on record in 2022, beating a mark set just a year earlier thanks to a combination of natural weather cycles and manmade global warming, according to the agency that monitors temperatures.

The U.N. weather agency is predicting the phenomenon known as La Nina is poised to last through the end of this year, a mysterious “triple dip” — the first this century — caused by three straight years of its effect on climate patterns like drought and flooding worldwide.

Federal meteorologists say this hurricane season may not be quite as busy as they initially thought, but it should still be more active than normal.

A culmination of unique events led to the recent extensive flooding in the Yellowstone region.

The details sometimes can reveal better news, sometimes not.

Australia has sweltered through its fourth-hottest year on record despite the usually cooling impact in recent months of the La Nina climate pattern, the nations weather bureau said on Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft,File)CANBERRA – Australia sweltered through its fourth-hottest year on record last year despite the recent return of the usually cooling La Nina climate pattern, the nation’s weather bureau said on Friday. La Nina, the cooler flipside of the better known El Nino, was declared in the Pacific Ocean in September. La Nina occurs when equatorial trade winds become stronger, changing ocean surface currents and drawing up cooler deep water. The hottest temperature in Australia for 2020 was 48.9 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) recorded at the height of the wildfire emergency at Penrith in New South Wales state on Jan. 4.

December had 7 freezes in 2020 but that's not all...more are likely later this month. While the first couple days of the year started out well above average -- in the 80s -- don’t get accustomed to those temperatures. Harsh cold will be on hold but a couple of freezes look likely by the week of Jan. 20. Forecasters say cool Pacific water temperatures, called La Nina, favor above-normal conditions across much of the southern United States except over the Southeast. La Nina is expected to stay through the end of spring increasing the chances February could stay chillier than normal before the springtime thaw.

The Drought Vulnerability Index from Climate Central focuses on what states are exposed and sensitive to drought, as well as their ability to adapt. For Florida, that means we’re looking at increasing drought conditions heading into our fire season. Drought Vulnerability Index (Climate Matters)A state with a low vulnerability score can still experience drought conditions, but they likely have a stronger economy and robust adaptation measures making them more resilient than other states. Drought in Florida from 2000-2020 (NIDIS)Looking back, 2017 was an active fire season for those in northeast Florida and southeast Georgia with the West Mims fire. The states with the highest Drought Vulnerability Index include Oklahoma, Iowa and Montana.

Two-thirds of the United States should get a warmer than normal winter, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted. Only Washington, northern Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas and northwestern Minnesota, will get a colder than normal winter, forecasters said. The rest of the nation will likely be closer to normal, NOAA said. Judah Cohen, a winter weather specialist for the private firm Atmospheric Environmental Research, sees a harsher winter for the Northeast than NOAA does. But he said La Nina is the strongest indicator among several for what drives winter weather.

With a La Nina climate pattern in place, southern parts of the U.S. may experience expanded and intensifying drought during the winter months ahead. More modest probabilities for warmer temperatures are forecast in the southern parts of the west coast, and from the Mid-Atlantic into the Northeast. Above-average temperatures are also favored for Hawaii and western and northern Alaska. More modest chances for drier conditions are forecast in southern Alaska, and from California across the Rockies, Central Plains, and into the Southeast. Drought conditions are expected to improve in the northern Rockies, Northwest, New England, Alaska, and Hawaii over the coming months.

If the trend continues over the next five months, the stage will be set for La Nia. La Nia brings broad changes to weather patterns including greater threats for tropical systems and wetter summers for Floridians. La Nina watch is issued by NOAA due to model predictions showing a 60% chance of La Nia developing by December 2020. Subtropical Storm Andrea spins off Florida May 2007 as the 133,000 thousand acre Bugaboo Fire burns during a strong La Nia year. If La Nia occurs, it will mean a region of the Pacific ocean is temporarily cooler than average.