Another active hurricane season predicted
A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite image shows Hurricane Earl, as it passed along the North Carolina Outer Banks. (September 3, 2010) Credit: AFP/Getty Images
Federal scientists predict an active hurricane season along the eastern United States coastline this year with 12 to 18 named tropical storms, including six to 10 that might develop into hurricanes.
That forecast, issued Thursday, compares with 19 named storms last year, including 12 hurricanes. None of those hurricanes made landfall on the Atlantic Coast.
The average Atlantic hurricane season has 11 named storms with winds of at least 39 mph. Six typically have winds reaching 74 mph and are upgraded to hurricanes; two of those usually become major hurricanes with winds of at least 111 mph.
"The U.S. was lucky last year," Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told reporters. "We cannot count on having the same luck this year. . . . Be prepared."
The Federal Emergency Management Agency urged residents of coastal areas to check the National Hurricane Center website -- www.hurricanes. gov/prepare -- for instructions.
Other forecasters also predict another above-normal hurricane season.
The Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University is predicting 16 named storms and about nine hurricanes.
AccuWeather, a private forecasting service, is predicting 15 named storms, eight of them hurricanes.
The NOAA forecast issued Thursday is for the six-month hurricane season between June 1 and Nov. 30. It will be updated in early August before the peak of the season, and the estimate could increase or decrease at that time.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
