If this hurricane season feels a tad bit quieter this year, you’re not imagining it. When Colorado State University issued its Atlantic Basin Seasonal Hurricane Forecast in April 2026, researchers predicted 13 Named Storms. The quick answer is El Niño. El Niño is the biggest factor in determining how active the hurricane season will be this year. Scott Lawrimore, a meteorologist at The Weather Channel, said that “what we're seeing with El Niño, and a very strong El Niño, that's really started to kick in across the equatorial Pacific, is warm ocean temperatures all across the Pacific, and it's huge.