El Nino may dampen hurricane season.

Byline: Anthony R. Wood

Jul. 9--The waters are warming up in the tropical Pacific, and that may be good news for the residents of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

Government scientists this morning announced that an El Nino -- an anomalous warming of surface waters in the equatorial Pacific that spans thousands of square miles -- was under way.

They said it would probably last through the winter. El Nino has widespread effects on weather in the United States, but its specific impacts around here are impossible to predict.

El Nino, however, is known to have a dampening effect on the U.S. hurricane season. El Nino generates powerful upper-air winds …