Most hurricanes in the United States occur along the south east Atlantic coast (i.e. North Carolina, Florida), or along the Gulf coast (i.e. Louisiana, Alabama). Hurricanes usually need warm water to form and ocean water tends to be warmer closer to the equator. The east coast of the US has warmer ocean waters than the west coast because of a current called the Gulf Stream that carries warm water from the equator north along the coast. On the Pacific coast, a process called upwelling brings deep, cold ocean water to the surface near the shore--too cold for most hurricanes to last. In addition, winds, called Trade Winds, that blow at the latitude of the southern US states usually blow from east to west. That means that any storms that form off of the east coast get blown towards shore, while storms forming along the Pacific coast get blown offshore further into the ocean.