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Related: About this forumReady for Hurricane Season? The Predictions Are Starting to Come in
Still, every year about this time, the first really serious predictions for what we might expect beginning June 1 and ending November 30, and we all take notice. So far, a couple prediction models have come out -- the biggie by Bill Gray and Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University will be released next week -- and they both predict a busy hurricane season in the Atlantic and particularly along the Gulf Coast.
The Weather Research Center here in Houston, which includes the Weather Museum (how have I never been there?), released its predictions on Thursday calling for nine to 12 named storms, with six of them reaching hurricane strength and three making landfall in the U.S. Joe Bastardi over at Weather Bell is even more bullish according to the SciGuy blog at Chron.com (Weather Bell is a paid, private prediction service).
He's calling for 16 named storms, an unusually high number of hurricanes at 12 with at least five of those reaching major-hurricane status. I have generally found Bastardi's predictions to be overly aggressive, but he is respected in his field and his number of named storms is not out of line with what I believe most will predict. But 12 hurricanes is an extraordinarily large number as is five major storms. In 2005, the busiest year on record in the Atlantic, there were 15 hurricanes, seven of which were major storms. It's hard to imagine we'll have anything close to that. Last year, we had ten hurricanes, but only two of them were major.
There is good reason to believe we will have a busy year in 2013, however. We are still in the middle of what scientists refer to as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. Basically, the water in the Atlantic is warmer than normal during these 25- to 40-year periods. Unfortunately, this current cycle began only 18 years ago in 1995.
The Weather Research Center here in Houston, which includes the Weather Museum (how have I never been there?), released its predictions on Thursday calling for nine to 12 named storms, with six of them reaching hurricane strength and three making landfall in the U.S. Joe Bastardi over at Weather Bell is even more bullish according to the SciGuy blog at Chron.com (Weather Bell is a paid, private prediction service).
He's calling for 16 named storms, an unusually high number of hurricanes at 12 with at least five of those reaching major-hurricane status. I have generally found Bastardi's predictions to be overly aggressive, but he is respected in his field and his number of named storms is not out of line with what I believe most will predict. But 12 hurricanes is an extraordinarily large number as is five major storms. In 2005, the busiest year on record in the Atlantic, there were 15 hurricanes, seven of which were major storms. It's hard to imagine we'll have anything close to that. Last year, we had ten hurricanes, but only two of them were major.
There is good reason to believe we will have a busy year in 2013, however. We are still in the middle of what scientists refer to as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. Basically, the water in the Atlantic is warmer than normal during these 25- to 40-year periods. Unfortunately, this current cycle began only 18 years ago in 1995.
More at http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2013/04/ready_for_hurricane_season_the.php .
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Ready for Hurricane Season? The Predictions Are Starting to Come in (Original Post)
TexasTowelie
Apr 2013
OP
niyad
(113,556 posts)1. and, from a completely unscientific viewpoint, all the hot air being spouted by the various fundie,
teahadist legislators and other assorted whackos cannot help but exacerbate the problem.
TexasTowelie
(112,422 posts)2. Good one!
Insert flatulence joke here.