Thanks El Nino, for arriving earlier than expected. Thanks Bermuda high, for standing strong in the middle of the Atlantic. Thanks Saharan dust, for clogging the chute where hurricanes often form.

South Carolina says thanks a million, or in terms of dollars, tens of millions. After several busy hurricane seasons in a row, only two storms affected South Carolina at all in 2006, and their impact was minimal.

The state emergency operations center went on hurricane alert only once all season, for three days in late August as Ernesto slipped past the state.

“It’s a morale booster to have a season like this,” said John Legare, spokesman for the S.C. Emergency Management Division. “It’s always a relief when our citizens aren’t threatened.”

The 2006 season that ends today had only nine named storms and five hurricanes. It is a welcome lull in a decade of active seasons that peaked with 28 named storms in 2005. Hurricane experts missed badly on their predictions of another busy season because of:

• The El Nino effect, in which warmer than normal waters in the central Pacific impact weather conditions around the globe. A strong El Nino began months earlier than expected, creating upper atmospheric winds that blew away embryonic hurricanes in the Atlantic.

• The Bermuda high, which often works like a shield for the U.S. coast. This year, the high stayed stronger longer and set up farther east than normal, in effect curving storms away from the Carolinas.

• The Saharan dust, kicked up by winds over Africa during a very dry summer. Dust makes it harder for storms to suck in the heat and moisture they need to grow.

Only two storms had any impact on South Carolina. Alberto slipped up from the Gulf of Mexico and brought much-needed rain in June, and a weak Ernesto came close enough to pump rain and winds along the coast in late August.

Gov. Mark Sanford called for voluntary evacuations of Charleston and Colleton counties as Ernesto neared, but few people actually left. Hotels reported brisk business a few days later during Labor Day weekend.

Compare that to 2004, when Hurricane Charley zipped ashore near North Myrtle Beach on an August weekend. A tourism study determined the mandatory evacuation of Horry County that weekend cut lodging revenue by $30.4 million. Include amusement parks, restaurants and golf courses, and the figure should be doubled to $60 million in losses, said Gary Loftus, director of the Center for Economic and Community Development at Coastal Carolina University.

Hurricane Gaston and Tropical Storm Frances prompted less costly hits on tourism in 2004. Last year, Hurricane Ophelia made a small economic dent as it churned off the coast, but the state’s tourism was socked by the gas shortage after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast.

This year, the lost tourism revenue and the cost to the state for cleanup, repairs and employee overtime will be minimal. Even during Ernesto, the state emergency operations center was fully staffed for less than 48 hours. Emergency planners appreciated this year as an opportunity to catch their breath.

“It was nice to have a chance to polish up our emergency preparations rather than respond,” Legare said.

Reach Holleman at (803) 771-8366.

WELCOME RELIEF

The 2006 hurricane season was a quiet one.

Named storms in 2005: 28

Named storms in 2006: 9

Number of hurricanes making landfall in S.C. since 1960: 3

Number of seasons since 1990 in which state escaped serious storm damage: 3 (1991, 1993, 2006)

Accommodations tax revenue from June-September 2004, when three storms came ashore in S.C.: $17.45 million

Accommodations tax revenue from June-September 2005, when Hurricane Katrina limited gas supplies: $19.85 million

Accommodations tax revenue from June-September 2006, when only one storm briefly brushed state: $20.76 million

SOURCE: Center for Economic and Community Development, Coastal Carolina University