NOAA came out with their forecast for the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season a few days ago and said this year should be pretty normal as far as numbers of storms go.
They’ve forecast 14 named storms, 4-7 hurricanes with 1-3 of them being major hurricanes.
Shaping this seasonal outlook is the possibility of competing climate factors. Supporting more activity this season are conditions associated with the ongoing high-activity era that began in 1995, which include enhanced rainfall over West Africa, warmer Atlantic waters and reduced wind shear. But activity could be reduced if El Nino develops in the equatorial Eastern Pacific this summer or if ocean temperatures in the eastern tropical Atlantic remain cooler than normal.
NOAA also retired 4 names from the list of names: Gustav, Ike and Paloma for Atlantic coast and Alma from the North Pacific list.
Hopefully the worst we get here are windy tropical storms that will bring some much needed rain and no hurricanes.
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