Gannett News Service
Published: 04.10.2008
Expect a busier Atlantic hurricane season than initially believed.
Professor William Gray’s Colorado State University forecasting team published its updated 2008 predictions Wednesday, and the numbers are on the rise. The latest forecast calls for 15 named storms and eight hurricanes — four of them major hurricanes of Category 3 or stronger.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 until Nov. 30.
“To put it in perspective, a typical season has 10 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes,” said Phil Klotzbach, Gray’s research partner. “So we’re calling for about 160 percent of an average hurricane season this year.”
In early December, Gray and Klotzbach predicted a “somewhat above-average” Atlantic hurricane season, featuring 13 named storms and seven hurricanes, three of them major. They upped those numbers Wednesday.
Klotzbach devised a new computer statistical model after his team overestimated the last two hurricane seasons. The researchers will release an updated forecast June 3, the third day of the hurricane season.
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