Last year was the worst hurricane season ever on the Atlantic Coast of the U.S. This year, according to the well-regarded annual forecast from Colorado State, there will be more hurricanes than average, with a chance that seven named storms will turn into hurricanes. And there’s a 63 percent chance the U.S. will be hit by a major hurricane.
No one wants a repeat of last year, when Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria caused more than $217 billion worth of damage, the most ever. The Colorado State study, now in its 35th year, predicts that the Atlantic coast will have 14 named storms this year; a storm gets a name when winds reach 39 mph. The forecast also predicted three major systems that will reach Category 3 or stronger, on a 5-Category scale.
It’s still early in the year (the hurricane season doesn’t start until June) to make totally accurate predictions, and forecasters will be able to tell more when the Atlantic starts to heat up, providing fuel for storms. But last year the Colorado State study, also released in April, erred on the side of underestimating the severity of the hurricane season. It predicted 11 named storms (there were 17); four hurricanes (there were ten), and two major storm systems (there were six). Read more:
