A forecast team from Colorado State University has predicted a slightly below-average level of activity in the Atlantic basin this hurricane season.
The CSU Tropical Meteorology Project says there will be an average of 13 named storms, with five of those storms developing into hurricanes in the Atlantic this season, which runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. The historical seasonal average is 12 tropical storms, with 6.5 of them becoming hurricanes.
The team predicts:
- A 48 percent chance that at least one major hurricane will make landfall on the U.S. coastline in 2019 (the long-term average probability is 52 percent).
- A 28 percent chance that a major hurricane will make landfall on the U.S. East Coast, including the Florida Peninsula (the long-term average is 31 percent).
- A 28 percent chance that a major hurricane will make landfall on the Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle west to Brownsville (the long-term average is 30 percent).
The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season saw eight storms become hurricanes, with two of them reaching major hurricane status. Hurricane Michael would become the third most intense hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. in terms of pressure.
Florida residents are reminded to take the proper precautions and to remember that it takes only one landfall event nearby to make this an active season.
Clay Electric Cooperative offers lots of information to help its members prepare for the possibility a hurricane may strike North Florida, including a Hurricane Preparedness Guide. Copies of the 2019 Preparedness Guide will be available online and at the cooperative’s six district offices in June.
