Season Summary
The season officially began on June 15, the date that the Weather Bureau office in Miami, Florida, under the direction of Gordon Dunn, began daily monitoring of all tropical disturbances and cyclones across the northern Atlantic Ocean. The agency had access to the Hurricane Hunters, a fleet of aircraft that obtain data by flying into storms. The Weather Bureau, in collaboration with other agencies, began a five–year project in 1956 to obtain and analyze data on the structure of hurricanes. The season officially ended on November 15.
There were a total of eight tropical storms during the season, one of which was unnamed. Of the eight storms, four were hurricanes. Compared to the average activity from the previous two decades, the season saw two fewer tropical storms and one fewer hurricane. The season's activity was below normal despite average sea surface temperatures and a normal number of tropical waves. Instead, the inactivity was the result of the subtropical ridge being located further south than normal, which decreased the atmospheric instability across much of the basin. Such a pattern was different from the more active 1954 and 1955 seasons. Several tropical depressions formed that did not attain tropical storm status, many of which formed beneath an unfavorable upper-level trough.
The season's activity was reflected with a cumulative accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) rating of 54, which is categorized as being "below normal". ACE is, broadly speaking, a measure of the power of the hurricane multiplied by the length of time it existed, so storms that last a long time, as well as particularly strong hurricanes, have high ACEs. ACE is only calculated for full advisories on tropical systems at or exceeding 34 knots (39 mph, 63 km/h) or tropical storm strength. Subtropical cyclones are excluded from the total.
Read more about this topic: 1956 Atlantic Hurricane Season
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