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Agence France-Presse

The 2015 hurricane season smashed records because of an unusually strong El Nino warming pattern, including the most powerful hurricane ever, US forecasters said.
During the official season, which ended Monday, scientists also recorded the biggest number of major Pacific hurricanes in a single season in 40 years and three hurricanes spinning over the ocean simultaneously for the first time.
Scientists blame El Nino for keeping meteorologists and alert services busy from May 15 in the East Pacific Ocean and from June 1 in the Atlantic and Central Pacific.
“El Nino produces a see-saw effect, suppressing the Atlantic season while strengthening the eastern and central Pacific hurricane seasons,” Gerry Bell, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Centre, said on Tuesday.
“El Nino intensified into a strong event during the summer and significantly impacted all three hurricanes seasons during their peak months.”
Most of the hurricanes that formed this year were relatively weak and short-lived, according to NOAA's National Hurricane Center.
But the Atlantic still managed to set several records with sometimes tragic consequences.
Hurricane Joaquin was the first Category Four storm on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale to hit the Bahamas since 1866.
It devastated the archipelago and caused the sinking of El Faro, a US cargo ship, and its 33 crew. No survivors were found.
In August, Hurricane Fred was the first to hit Cape Verde since 1892.
Tropical Storm Erika, while not rising to the level of a hurricane, killed 30 people and wreaked extensive damage in the small Caribbean island of Dominica in August.
In the Pacific, hurricane activity exceeded the average, with 18 storms, including 13 that became hurricanes - among them nine major hurricanes.
It was the first time that nine major hurricanes were detected in the region since records began in 1971, NOAA said.
Among those, Patricia in October was the most powerful hurricane ever recorded, with sustained winds of 320km/h.
That trumped Typhoon Haiyan (310km/h), which ravaged the Philippines in 2013, killing more than 6,000 people.
Patricia hit Mexico as a Category Five storm, the strongest on the scale. But the hurricane caused only material damage.
Three major hurricanes - Ignacio, Kilo and Jimena - churned at the same time, the first time such an event was recorded in the Pacific.


El Nino fuels a record-breaking hurricane season, including the most powerful storm ever

REFILE - CORRECTING YEAR IMAGE WAS TAKENHurricane Sandra is seen in a NOAA image taken from the GOES East satellite off the coast of Mexico at 12:45 ET (17:45 GMT) November 25, 2015. Hurricane Sandra strengthened to a Category 4 storm early on Thursday, the strongest recorded in the eastern Pacific Ocean this late in the year, as it headed toward Mexico's coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Picture taken November 25, 2015. REUTERS/NOAA/Handout via Reuters THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

Hurricane Sandra is seen in a satellite photo taken off the coast of Mexico on November 25. Photo: Reuters

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