Atlantic Hurricane Forecast Revised Upward
Researchers at Colorado State University have revised their hurricane forecast for 2008.
Noted hurricane researcher William Gray, a former Colorado State University climatologist, has revised his Atlantic forecast upward and now calls for a total of nine hurricanes this season — an increase of one.
Gray said five of the hurricanes will be major. The forecast issued includes hurricanes Bertha and Dolly last month.
The hurricane season is a little over a third of the way through, which lasts until November 30 and there have been five named storms so far in the Atlantic Basin. Two of the named storms reached hurricane strength, with only Dolly making landfall on July 23rd.
This season is slightly ahead of last year’s pace, when there were a total of fifteen named storms. While last year’s forecast was also above average, it was relatively mild as far as the U.S. was concerned.
This is Gray’s 25th year of hurricane forecasting. In contrast, a normal hurricane season has just below ten named storms and six hurricanes.
