Lapsed El Niño impact on Atlantic and Northwest Pacific tropical cyclone activity in 2023

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a major factor modulating interannual variability of tropical cyclone (TC) activity, typically resulting in the suppressed TC genesis frequency (TCGF) over the North Atlantic (NA) and a distinct northwest-southeast dipole pattern in TCGF anomaly over the western North Pacific (WNP) during El Niño years. However, the TC season of 2023, a year of strong El Niño, presented an intriguing departure from this norm, as the NA experienced an unexpectedly active season with 20 TCs, while the WNP witnessed a decrease in the basin count with only 13 TCs.