NOAA forecasts below-average Atlantic hurricane season for 2026 due to El Niño
Photo: CNN
Other Added 14m ago · originally reported 7h ago Why the delay? Events only appear once a second similar article confirms the story. Additionally, many feeds (especially Google News-proxied sources like CNN, NYT, WSJ, WaPo) can take 10-20+ hours to index new articles. The pipeline also runs every 30 minutes, so there's always some inherent lag. 2 outlets · 2 articles

NOAA forecasts below-average Atlantic hurricane season for 2026 due to El Niño

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its first forecast for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season on Thursday, predicting below-average activity with 8-14 named storms, 3-6 hurricanes, and 1-3 major hurricanes. The forecast attributes the reduced activity to the anticipated emergence and persistence of El Niño conditions through the season. This marks the first below-average forecast since 2015, which also occurred during an El Niño year.

8
Divergence score
This event sits in the top 93% of divergence this week. 2 outlets covered it, splitting into 2 framing camps across 1 bias group.
2 camps
1 bias group
The spectrum · how 2 outlets placed this story
LeftCenterRight
CNN
ABC News
Horizontal = outlet biasColor = this story's framing
Supportive of action
Neutral
Dismissive
Critical
Alarmist
International angle
The split, in one line
Both outlets report NOAA's core forecast identically. CNN emphasizes El Niño as the ultimate influencer and contrasts with 2025's Category 5 storms; ABC provides methodological clarity on what the forecast does and does not predict.
How each outlet covered it
2 Outlets
0 neg2 neu0 pos
Grouped by political lean
Cross-checked points from across the political spectrum
Fact ledger
Confirmed
Disputed
Sign up to unlock
Event #8733 · analyzed at 2026-05-21T15:48 UTC · last updated 14m ago