Hurricane season in the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans wraps up around Nov. 1. Though some in Western Washington ask, “Do we get hurricanes here?” The short answer is no, but we do get hurricane-force winds.

Hurricanes are tropical cyclones fueled primarily by warm sea surface temperatures of 80 degrees or warmer. The waters in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico continue to have quite warm temperatures in the mid and upper 80s, giving an exceptional jolt of energy, rapidly intensifying tropical cyclones into hurricanes.

As those who venture into the ocean along the outer coast know, the waters in the northern Pacific are much cooler than 80 degrees. Yet strong, dangerous windstorms can and do develop.

In fact, they frequently happen across the northern Pacific during the fall and winter

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