2008 Preliminary Hurricane Forecast

2008 Atlantic Seasonal Hurricane Forecast ::

The Tropical Meteorology Project - "We foresee a well above-average Atlantic basin tropical cyclone season in 2008," 8 hurricanes (average is 5.9) and 15 named storms (average is 9.6), with 4 INTENSE (Category 3-4-5) hurricanes.

As the hurricane season approaches and as I have watched what the weather has been doing to the whole country these past few months, I cannot help but worry. Everything just seems out of order these days. It seems like destruction is upon us whether it's gas prices, food prices, record rainfall, record snowfall, baseball-size hail, tornadoes, fire storms, blizzards in May, droughts, or floods all along the Mississippi River and elsewhere. Thus, I am worrying.

In 2005, records were set:
* Named storms: 28; previous record: 21 in 1933
* Hurricanes: 15; previous record: 12 in 1969
* Major hurricanes hitting the U.S.: Four (Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma); previous record: Three, most recently in 2004
* Hurricanes of Category 5 intensity (greater than 155 mph): Four (Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma); previous record: Two in 1960 and 1961 - A Season of Firsts

In 2006, we had 9 named storms of which 5 were hurricanes, but NO U.S. landfalls. An above-average number of storms was called for and thanks to El Nino, the predictions fell short.

In 2007, we had 15 named storms - 6 hurricanes of which 2 were major, and 1 landfall in the U.S. An above-average number of storms was predicted, but didn't happen. 2007 Hurricane Season Recap - Some great stats from The Weather Channel.

As we in Mississippi know, it only takes ONE to ruin your day and this is echoed by National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen, "It doesn't matter what the numbers are," which refers to the center's mantra that it takes only one powerful storm to make it a bad season.

2008 Atlantic Storm Names

Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna, Ike. Josephine, Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paloma, Rene,
Sally, Teddy, Vicky, Wilfred.