Atlantic hurricane season will be above-normal by Ioana Madalina Tantareanu

Forecasts are warning people not to be fooled by past month's weak cyclonic activity, as many as nine storms could develop into hurricanes this year. According to the US government's Climate Prediction Center, the Atlantic season that started on the 1st of June is due to remain well above-average for the next 6 months. Experts expect a total of 13 to 16 tropical storms to hit the Atlantic basin this year, with seven ofthem becoming hurricanes. Three to five of the storms are likely to strengthen into "major" hurricanes, meaning they will pack sustained winds of at least 178 kilometers (111 miles) per hour. Gerry Bell, the lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at the Climate Prediction Center, urged residents along coastal areas not to let their guard down following last year's relative calm and this year's slow start of the Atlantic hurricane season. "The fact we have seen no hurricane so far (this year) means absolutely nothing," said Bell. "Complacency is not good. We found that people who prepare fare much better than those who don't," he said. Last year saw nine storms form, including five hurricanes, which did relatively little damage after a disastrous and record-breaking 2005 season. In 2005, 28 tropical storms formed in the Atlantic, 15 of which became hurricanes, including Stan which killed some 2,000 people in Guatemala and Katrina, which hit the US Gulf coast flooding most of New Orleans and killing about 1,500 people. Only 3 tropical storms have formed this year in the Atlantic basin so far, none of them managing to strenghten into hurricanes. The last one, named Flossie, swirled above the Atlantic on Thursday, but presented no immediate threat to land.

by Ioana Madalina Tantareanu for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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