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 six of those storms developing into hurricanes in the Atlantic this season, which runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.

The team predicts:

• A 44 percent chance at least one major hurricane will make landfall on the U.S. coastline in 2023 (the long-term average probability is 43 percent).
• A 22 percent chance a major hurricane will make landfall on the U.S. East Coast, including the Florida Peninsula (the long-term average is 21 percent).
• A 28 percent chance a major hurricane will make landfall on the Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle west to Brownsville (the long-term average is 27 percent).

The 2022 hurricane season had eight landfalling continental U.S. hurricanes, including Hurricane Ian. As a Category 4 with 150 mph maximum sustained winds, Hurricane Ian tied for the fifth-strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in the U.S.

Clay Electric’s service area was impacted by Hurricane Ian in late September and then Hurricane Nicole, a Category 1 storm that made landfall in mid-November.

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 2023 Hurricane Preparedness Guide are available online and at the cooperative’s six district offices in June.