Projected climate conditions predict a near normal or above normal hurricane season this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center announced today.
“Living in a coastal state means having a plan for each and every hurricane season. Review or complete emergency plans now – before a storm threatens,” NOAA administrator Conrad C. Lautenbacher said in a news release. “Planning and preparation is the key to storm survival and recovery.”
The Climate Prediction Center’s outlook calls for a 65 percent chance of an above normal season and a 25 percent chance of a near normal season.
The outlook calls for a 60 to 70 percent chance of 12 to 16 named storms in 2008, including six to nine hurricanes and two to five major hurricanes.
A normal season has 11 named storms, including six hurricanes.
“Americans in hurricane-prone states must get serious and be prepared. Government – even with the federal, tribal, state and local governments working perfectly in sync – is not the entire answer,” FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison said in the release. “Everyone is part of the emergency management process. We must continue to develop a culture of preparedness in America in which every American takes personal responsibility for his or her own emergency preparedness.”
The NOAA’s hurricane season outlook will be updated Aug. 7 – right before what experts consider the time for peak hurricane activity.
The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1.
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