NOAA: Get Ready for ‘Above Average’ Hurricane SeasonThursday, May 19th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
U.S. forecasters say residents of hurricane-prone areas should prepare themselves for an “above-average” hurricane season.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration head Jane Lubchenco said the United States was lucky last year that winds steered the storms away from its coasts. But Lubchenco said residents cannot “count on luck” to keep hurricanes away again this season.
The weather service is predicting there will be as many as 18 named storms during the season, which starts on June 1st. It predicts as many as ten of those could become hurricanes — the most powerful class of storms. And as many as six of those could become major hurricanes, with damaging wind gusts exceeding 187 kilometers an hour.
The weather service says the above-average predictions stem from several factors, including warmer surface temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean and lower atmospheric winds from the Pacific Ocean, thanks to the el Nina phenomenon. Forecasters also say the region has been in an era of high activity since 1995.
An average year, according to the weather service, would have just 11 named storms, including just two major hurricanes.
NOAA: Get Ready for ‘Above Average’ Hurricane Season
Article from VOA
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