Daytona Beach, FL – It’s been a quiet hurricane season so far in the Atlantic Ocean and some experts don’t expect that to change anytime soon.
The heads of Colorado State University’s Tropical Meteorology Project are now calling for 2 hurricanes in the Atlantic during the 2015 season, 1 less than the original forecast they issued in April.
Having said that, CSU meteorologists William M. Gray and Philip J. Klotzbach are now calling for 8 named storms between now and the end of November. That’s 1 more than last April’s forecast.
Gray & Klotzman’s new report – which you can read in full by clicking here – has 1 of those 8 named storms becoming a major hurricane, the same as in April. A major hurricane is classified as a Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, packing sustained winds of 110 miles an hour or greater.
The new report calls for a 22% chance of Florida being hit by a named storm in 2015 and a 8% chance of being hit by a major hurricane in 2015.
The downgrade in storms is being blamed in part on a massive El Niño effect that’s creating strong wind shear in the upper atmosphere.
The Atlantic averages 12 named storms during hurricane season, including 6 that turn into hurricanes and 3 that turn into major hurricanes.
There’s been 3 named Atlantic storms – Ana, Bill and Claudette – so far in 2015.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is scheduled to do an Atlantic hurricane forecast revision on Thursday. They also called for a below average season in late May.
The Volusia-Flagler area hasn’t been hit directly by a hurricane or tropical storm since 2004.
The Atlantic hurricane season started June 1st and ends November 30th.
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.