Preparing For Hurricane Season
Although this year’s hurricane forecast for the Atlantic basin calls for an average year, forecasters remain cautious due the unpredictability of weather patterns they expect this year. As always it is important to be prepared, maybe even more so than years past.
Researchers are concerned about quickly developing tropical depressions just off the coast of the Eastern seaboard as well as in the Gulf of Mexico. Typically hurricanes start forming off the coast of Africa, giving forecasters plenty of warning to gauge it’s strength and it’s likely track.
However, storms forming off the coast may only give a day’s warning to residents to prepare for the worst. Although it’s a rare occurrence, we have seen tropical depressions form in the Gulf of Mexico in year’s past quickly developing into hurricane and striking the coast the following day.
Now researchers are concerned that could also happen in the warm ocean current off the East coast. The Gulf Stream, a warm water ocean current turns sharply north after passing Florida and could become a breeding ground for a tropical depression this year.
The Northeast should be especially concerned, since a major hurricane hasn’t hit the area in over a decade and the residents there are likely not as prepared as those in the Southeastern and Gulf states. Granted residents are usually more concerned about Nor’easters forming during the winter months than they are of a hurricane but that preparedness should translate well.
