“We anticipate that the 2016 Atlantic basin hurricane season will have approximately average activity”, the report summarized.
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The Colorado State University’s annual preseason hurricane forecast predicts average activity including 13 named storms and five hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, university researcher Philip J. Klotzbach announced Thursday. Prepare this hurricane season the same way you would prepare for any hurricane season… regardless of how much or how little activity is forecast.
And remember: no matter what the long-range forecast for a given season might say, your First Alert Weather Team urges preparedness and vigilance in every storm season! While the tropical Atlantic is relatively warm, the far North Atlantic is quite cold, potentially indicative of a negative phase of the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation.
A Category 3 hurricane has wind speeds of between 111 and 129 miles per hour, while a Category 5 storm has winds of 157 miles per hour or higher, according to the National Hurricane Center’s Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale.
The CSU team will issue forecast updates on June 1, July 1 and August 3.
While the lack of El Nino is not welcome news for hurricane-prone regions in North America, Klotzbach and Gray also indicate that colder-than-normal water in the northern Atlantic Ocean may help to suppress hurricane formation and intensification in 2016. William Gray, professor emeritus of atmospheric science, launched the report in 1984.
The eastern Pacific hurricane season starts May 15.
“As is the case will all hurricane seasons”, said Klotzbach, “coastal residents are reminded that it only takes one hurricane making landfall to make it an active season for them”.
Last year, the team predicted 7 named storms, of which would be hurricanes; the season ended with 11 named storms of which four were hurricanes.
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Numbers in ( ) represent medians based on 1981-2010 data. This forecast does not include Alex.
