Posted on 05/15/2006 9:54:48 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three major hurricanes will strike the United States this year, with the storm-battered Gulf Coast most at risk in June and July, forecaster AccuWeather predicted Monday.
The outlook comes after a record-setting hurricane season in 2005 that devastated New Orleans and other coastal cities along the Gulf, and dealt a heavy blow to the U.S. oil industry that sent energy prices to record highs.
"The 2006 storm season will be a creeping threat," said AccuWeather Chief Forecaster Joe Bastardi. He projected that five hurricanes, three of them with winds over 110 miles per hour, would hit the U.S. coastline.
"Early in the season the Texas Gulf Coast faces the highest likelihood of a hurricane strike, possibly putting Gulf energy production in the line of fire," he said. "As early as July, and through much of the rest of the season, the highest level of risk shifts to the Carolinas."
At the tail-end of the season, the Northeast and southern Florida will be most at risk from storms, he said.
This year feature fewer named storms than last year's record of 28, but will still be a season of above-average storm frequency, AccuWeather said in the press release.
Last year, there were eight tropical storm landfalls in the U.S., including two separate strikes by Katrina as the storm crossed the Florida peninsula and then plowed into the central Gulf Coast in late August. Four of these were major hurricanes - with winds over 110 mph: Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
Hurricane Katrina was the costliest storm on record, causing more than $80 billion in damage.
Well, this is now officially the first thread of the 2006 Hurricane Season.
Regards
Go back to sleep, you have two more weeks.
Let's call this one an "information thread," okay??
I'm headed to Nicaragua tomorrow morning for a little more than a week, and believe it or not, there is an INVEST off its Pacific Coast today. NOOOOOOOOOO!
Granted, there's a pretty good chance it won't hold together, and if it does, it'd move north toward Mexico. I hope I have access to internet while I'm there to keep an eye on things.
Here we go again.
Batten down the hatches.
The birth cycle seems to be trending to the right (east). Based on that I would expect to see more East Coast storms this year. However, I've got a silly feeling that the Yucatan Gulf will spawn a few storms again this year and Texas won't be so lucky. You can also nearly bank on at lease one major storm in the GOM this year. Things are looking very similar to last year - lack of sheer, high SST's, and La Nina. If you live on the coast I suggest you invest in a(nother) generator.
Excerpt from a scathing and hilarious satire on hurricane preparedness at Something Awful
It's a bit rude in places, but well worth the read for anyone who's dealt with hurricanes.
I'm starting the countdown to the first "plywood shot" of the season.
Sigh.
Not this #$%^ again ;)
Well, at least it's a place to post without seeing the "I" word (or has somebody already brought that up?)
ATTENTION PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN AREAS THAT ARE HURRICANE PRONE:
1) GET iNSURANCE
2) LISTEN TO WEATHER REPORTS
3) BE PREPARED TO EVACUATE - MAKE YOUR OWN PLANS
4) Don't rely on everyone else to do what you should be doing.
5) GOOD LUCK.
6) If you don't want to deal with hurricanes MOVE.
I predict there will be 5.
Baaaahahahaha....stay tuned ;)
Why does everyone forget Ivan ('04) and Dennis ('05)? Both of which were arguably much worse storms than Eloise, Elena, Kate, or Erin.
Didn't forget ANY of them. I was talking very specifically about the Florida Panhandle where I worked as a hurricane forecaster during those years. I was referring to direct hits here in Panama City.
I thought I made that clear at the top of my comment:
Here in the FL. Panhandle wet get tropical storms in June (as early as June 1) but for the last 35 years, the hurricanes have gone right past us toward Texas. All of our bad ones have been in the last half of the season (Camille Sept '69, Eloise Sept '75, Elena Sept '85, Kate Nov '85, Erin Aug '95, and Opal Oct '95).
I'm in no position to talk about storms in which I have not participated directly.
And it's not even June 1 yet...........
Why do I think we are in for another long summer?
'kay
Normally, the Gulf storms are the late season storms.
And there's no Gulf storm that doesn't threaten production unless it hugs the Florida coast where no drilling is permitted.
If that looks "menacing" to you, it's a good thing you're not in the hurricane forecasting business....from which I recently retired after 35 years.
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