Noted Colorado State University meteorologist William Gray is predicting the hurricane season that began today will see above average activity in the Atlantic basin with 15 named storms.
Last year a record four named storms hit southeastern coast. In a study released yesterday, Mr. Gray now predicts 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and four intense storms as strong or stronger than an event ranked Category 3 on the five point Saffir-Simpson Scale with winds from 111 to 130 miles per hour.
"We believe that the current active period is quite similar to the 1930s, where we had many active hurricane seasons, even though other features typically associated with active seasons in the 1950s and 1960s were not present," Mr. Gray said.
Mr. Gray also noted that the '30s was a period of strong global warming similar to the past decade.
The possibility of at least one major storm at Category 3 or above hitting somewhere on the entire U.S. coastline is 77 percent; for the U.S. East Coast including the Florida Panhandle–59 percent; and for the Gulf Coast from the Panhandle west to Brownsville–44 percent.
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