MIAMI (Reuters) - A noted U.S. hurricane forecaster said on Tuesday the milder-than-expected Atlantic season will produce just two more tropical storms and no more "major" hurricanes due to El Nino conditions in the Pacific. | Not with a "bang", but a wimper |
The season has so far seen nine tropical storms, of which five reached hurricane strength. William Gray's forecast team at Colorado State University said that by November 30, the end of the official six-month season, the total will be just 11 storms, with one more hurricane.
Hurricane forecasts, including Gray's, have been wildly off target this year following last year's record-breaking season, when 28 tropical storms formed, besting the old mark of 21 set in 1933. Among the worst of last year's storms was Hurricane Katrina, which swamped New Orleans and killed 1,500 people along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
At the beginning of the 2006 season, the Colorado State team predicted there would be 17 tropical storms and said nine would turn into hurricanes with sustained winds of 74 miles per hour (119 km per hour) or more. It said five would be "major" hurricanes, which are Category 3 or higher on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale with sustained winds of at least 111 mph (179 kph) and capable of causing some structural damage to buildings. Only two of this year's hurricanes have reached Category 3 status and none of the five hit the United States.
| The MSM is soooooo disapointed. |
"We expect October to have below-average activity largely due to developing El Nino conditions in the central and eastern Pacific," Philip Klotzbach, who now leads Gray's research team, said in a statement. "November activity in El Nino years is very rare."
| Bush will be blamed, somehow |
| Ah, warming! Pacific warming! Global Warming! It's oppressing the hurricanes! Wait, that doesn't sound right. |